


Time Belongs to Those Who Own the Hours

by Chichirinoda



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Multi, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-22
Updated: 2011-10-23
Packaged: 2017-10-22 22:22:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/243232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chichirinoda/pseuds/Chichirinoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the game is won and the trolls' universe has returned to proper order, Eridan Ampora has distinguished himself in the army. Receiving a promotion and his own ship, the new Captain goes to the schoolfeeding facility where lowbloods are indoctrinated and trained to become Helmsmen. There, he finds Sollux Captor.</p><p>Unable to bear seeing him that way, Eridan takes Sollux as his slave. Sollux expects to find torture and misery at Eridan's hive, but Eridan is unexpectedly kind.</p><p>But is that all there is for Sollux? There is a new lowblood rebellion brewing, fuelled by the Sufferer Born Again, and the Heir, and Sollux already knows which side he supports. The trouble is, he belongs to one of the more loyal members of the Empire, a troll who already murdered the Heir once.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Time belongs to those who own the hours.  
Love to hearts exchanging eternal vows.

Life to death in selfishness a lifetime sours.  
Faith sustains rules angelic universal powers.

Time belongs to fat vultures  
who own exploit tyrant hours.

Love to merging hearts exchanging  
soul felt sacred eternal vows.

Death to bloated eternal selfishness  
many a wicked wasted lifetime sows.

But faith sustains God sent rules  
life saving angelic universal powers.  
\-- Slave Rebellion by Terence George Craddock

======>

When Captain Eridan Ampora - yes, Captain, newly promoted, his new epaulets still shiny and the ink still wet on his promotion papers, figuratively speaking - first walked into the schoolfeeding complex looking for a Helmsman for his new ship, he had been excited, nervous, and anticipatory.

That excitement had quickly paled when he saw the state the lowbloods were in, hooked up to machines and drugged to the gills, their eyes glassy and staring and really fuckin' creepy.

He had grown downright nauseous as the administrator explained what they were doing here, but he had struggled to keep his expression neutral and bored. It wouldn't do for a sea-dweller to seem sympathetic to the lowblood trash. Their sacrifice was what made the Empire possible, and Eridan wasn't the kind of troll who could be called disloyal to the Empire.

He needed a Helmsman, he told himself, and if it weren't him who took the unfortunate sap, then it would be someone else. It didn't really _matter_. They were just lowbloods, anyway, and this was just their lot in life.

But then he passed one particular cubicle, and there was a familiar face inside.

He stopped dead and stared, his stomach churning.

 _No, no, no no fuck no, not **him** too!_

He knew he should have known it was this way. But to actually see Sollux here, submerged to his waist in sopor slime and hooked up to a forest of wires and tubes was almost more than he could bear. This was someone he _knew_ , not a faceless lowblood.

Someone he had had feelings for, though he hadn't seen Sollux in sweeps.

Not since the game ended, and the world was reset, and his former friends had allowed him to run away with his tail between his legs. Back to his hive, back to a life even more lonely than he could have imagined was possible. But he had worked hard, obsessively, and covered himself with glory.

And Sollux was a mindless shell in a vat.

He stepped into the cubicle and reached out, then paused as the slave's eyes shifted to look at him. Red and blue orbs widened with terror and Sollux shivered in his bonds.

Eridan dropped his hand and turned to the tealblood standing behind him. "I'll take this one."

There was a soft, whimpering cry behind him, which he ignored.

"Ah, an excellent choice. This one is one of the more powerful I've ever trained. Her Imperial Condescension herself has expressed interested in him--"

He didn't want to hear that. He cut her off with a wave. "Are you sayin' I can't fucking take him? He's not avvailable?"

"No, no, highblood, not at all!" The tealblood groveled and scurried away to draw up the paperwork.

Eridan stood and waited, his back to Sollux, impatient.

When he'd signed the forms and affixed his symbol in the proper places, he strode for the door. "Havve him sent to my hivve," he ordered.

"Not...not the ship?" the woman asked, confused.

"Ship's not ready to be launched, yet," Eridan lied. "Anywway, I'vve got somethin' special for him. You gonna question me, filth?" He added with unnecessary harshness.

She was obviously taken aback. Teal wasn't exactly a low blood colour, though it was lower than his. Much lower. And she bowed deeply, if with an irritated twisted to her mouth. "Of course, highblood. It will be done."

He just nodded and left, his hands' trembling hidden under the folds of his cloak. He couldn't have stayed another minute in that horrible place, he was sure.

======>

A black skimmer arrived at his hive the following day, and deposited the slave on his front doorstep. The green who made the delivery was nervous and skittish, with old scars on his wrists that told Eridan that he had gone through indentured servitude at least once, possibly for petty crime.

He didn't care. He had eyes only for the yellow.

He pressed his ring to the reader and then his thumb, letting the machine read both his symbol and his blood temperature for identification.

Sollux stood still and mute, his head lowered and his hands clenched together in front of him. There were chains on his wrists, and a collar around his neck with a bulbous leech grafted onto the metal. The leech's body was swollen tight like a drum, and the mouth latched onto the side of Sollux' neck, feeding him some kind of drug.

The green took back the machine and handed Eridan a package. "More of the drugss," he hissed. Some kind of speech impediment. His symbol twisted like a yellow-green snake. "Ssinsse you are keeping him for a while insstead of insstalling him on your sship right away, you'll need it."

"I thought he couldn't fight back," Eridan said, taking the package, even if his skin crawled at touching it.

"Ssometimess misstakess are made, highblood," the green said, bowing low. "Ssometimess their will iss sstrong. We don't want any trouble for you, that'ss all. It'ss jusst a precaution."

"Fine," Eridan said, his hopes sinking a little. "Are wwe finished here?"

"Yess. Have a good day, highblood. Glory to the Empire."

Eridan resisted the urge to grab Sollux and pull him inside. Instead he turned away and snapped a command, "Follow me," as he strode back into his hive.

This wasn't the hive he had built as a child. It was a new one he had commissioned on another world, one of the central military worlds, where his ship was in the process of being built, and where he had based himself for most of his career. It was far less rambling, and didn't look like a ship, but more like a castle. His recuperacoon was in one of the turret rooms, with a spectacular 360 degree view of the sea all around his island.

He knew the other sea dwellers were taken aback by the fact that he didn't live underwater, like most of his brethren, but he liked swimming no more than he had as a child. He preferred to live on land, but close to the ocean.

And that had turned out to be an advantage this time. He could bring Sollux here. And unless the slave used his powers to fly - something that would require a huge rebellion, given the programming he'd experienced - he couldn't leave. No one could come here without Eridan being prepared for it, either.

They were alone. Together.

Sollux trailed in his wake like a skinny, pale shadow. Robotic butler drones scattered from rooms like humanoid cockroaches when he entered them, then returned to continue cleaning and tidying after he had passed through.

He walked up a flight of stairs and into a sitting room, then slumped onto the divan with a sigh, finally looking at his slave.

Sollux stood like he didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, shifting slightly from foot to foot and looking down at the floor. The slight sign of life was good, reassuring, but the fat leech on the side of his neck looked like a tumour, and the handcuffs that glittered on his wrists were impossible to ignore.

"Come sit next to me," Eridan ordered, and Sollux shuffled forward obediently. He sat down on the divan, his head still trained on the floor.

Eridan felt like crying for the first time in sweeps. He swallowed to force the tears down and caught Sollux' unresisting wrist, examining the cuff. It wasn't hard to figure out how to unlock them - they didn't need a key, instead they had been imprinted already with his blood type. It probably had happened when he signed for the slave outside.

He pressed his thumb to the contact and the cuffs sprang open. He tossed them aside for the butler drones to take care of later.

Then he examined the collar - or more specifically, the leech. He grimaced with disgust as he curled his fingers around the fat body of the biotechnological creature and pulled it away from Sollux' neck. The slave whimpered as it came free, the sharp needle-like mouth drawing out of his neck along with a few beads of yellow blood.

The thing was attached to the collar itself. Eridan explored along the collar with his free hand until he found the contact and it opened with a click. Then he picked up both collar and leech and hurled them as far as he could across the room.

Then he got up and strode out of the room. "Don't movve until I get back," he snapped harshly, and didn't see how Sollux shrank into the cushions in fear at his tone.

He went to the ablution block down the hall and stared at himself in the mirror for a while, then closed his eyes and lowered his head.

He could deal with this. At least Sollux wasn't in that place anymore. Even if Sollux was scared and Eridan had no idea how to handle him, it wasn't like it could be that hard. Sollux had been fixed up to serve him, so Eridan just had to tell him what to do.

Easy as larval pie.

After he had made sure his emotions were in check, he washed his face, straightened up, and walked back out to the sitting room in a swirl of cape.

Sollux was still sitting exactly where he had been. He looked up tentatively as Eridan strode back in, and shrank back, quickly lowering his eyes again.

"Can you talk?" Eridan asked. Sollux hadn't made a sound up to now except for that first cry of fear back at the complex. Surely they hadn't done something like cut out his tongue. He had to be able to talk to give reports as a Helmsman, didn't he?

Thankfully, Eridan's uncertainty didn't last long. "Yeth, captain," Sollux said quietly. "I can talk."

He even still had the lisp. It made Eridan's chest hurt.

"Okay," Eridan replied, then hovered for a moment in indecision. "Wwell, you're not bein' used as a Helmsman, so put that out a your mind right the fuck now. You can stay here, wwith me, and servve me in other wways."

He waited, but there was no response from Sollux. After a moment, he huffed and crossed the room, sitting down next to him.

He hesitated, watching Sollux, who was sitting so stiffly and hunched over that he was visibly trembling. It seemed like the drugs must be wearing off already, because he seemed more alert and his emotions were obvious, but he didn't seem inclined to rebel. Not that Eridan had expected him to.

What could he do? The silence was drawing out and growing more awkward by the moment, and Eridan was starting to feel a little frantic.

Then it occurred to him. He could do...whatever he wanted.

Eridan reached out and put his arm around Sollux' shoulders. He was trembling, himself, a little.

Sollux shuddered visibly, and Eridan had to swallow an angry word or two. He didn't need to act like his touch was physically abhorrent, did he? That wasn't exactly good service.

"C-captain," Sollux whispered, startling him out of his increasingly angry thoughts.

"Yeah? You can talk, Sol. Say wwhatevver's on your mind," Eridan said quickly. The silence was really hard to deal with, but maybe Sollux just needed permission.

"Thank you, captain," Sollux said. "Captain, I'm not, trained for thith... I...I wath thuppothed to pilot a ship. Not...not..." He shuddered again, and Eridan suddenly realized something.

Sollux was crying.

He drew back his hand as if it had been burned and stood up abruptly, moving away. Sollux gave a soft cry at the sudden movement and threw up his hands as if he had expected Eridan to hit him. The slave hunched, trembling, on the divan, as Eridan walked to the window, struggling for control.

Finally he trusted himself to speak. "Look, Sol," he said in a slow, even tone. He turned back to look at the slave. "I knoww you'vve got no upright reason to believve me, but you belong to me noww, so you'll just havve to. I didn't fuckin' buy you to make you my sex slavve, and I didn't buy you to make you my Helmsman. You get that?"

"Yes, captain," Sollux said obediently, but he looked more confused than reassured.

"You wwant a ask me somethin'?" Eridan asked, folding his arms across his chest. "Go ahead."

Sollux was silent a few long seconds before speaking. "What are you going to do to me?"

Eridan stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "I don't have the first fuckin' clue."

Sollux looked up, searching his expression. Eridan schooled his features as best he could until the slave dropped his gaze again.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"Fuck, no!" Eridan sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Pleathe," Sollux whispered, and the pain in his voice brought Eridan's head up to look at him again. "Jutht kill me."

Eridan clenched his fists, nearly cutting holes in his shirt by accident. "Sol, wwhat the fuck?"

"Pleathe, I'll do whatever you want. Jutht don't make me thuffer," Sollux trembled and shook.

Eridan nearly absconded. He took two steps back, his breathing coming fast and harshly through both his mouth and his gills. But he forced himself not to run, to stand his ground and face this.

"Sol," he said sharply. "I'm not going to kill you. And I'm not gonna make you suffer. Get that through your fuckin' mutated think pan!"

"Why not?" Sollux asked. "Why are you lying to me like thith? Why don't you jutht _do_ what you bought me to do and get it over with?!"

If Eridan hadn't been in so much agony, he might have been pleased that Sollux was practically yelling at him, even if he was doing it while cringing against the pillows, his face streaked with yellow tears. At least he was standing up to him, a little.

"Because I've alwways been fuckin' flushed for you, Sol!" Eridan snapped. "You're so fuckin' pitiable, howw the fuck am I supposed to wwant to hurt you more?!"

And then he really did abscond. He turned and fled the room, slamming the door and locking it.

He kept running until he reached the cliffs on the south side of the island, then dove into the ocean. He swam until his lungs burned from the unaccustomed effort of breathing water instead of air, and his arms ached, and his eyes stopped leaking.


	2. Chapter 2

Eridan was very physically fit, but his limbs still felt rubbery when he finally climbed up out of the water and staggered back into his hive.

On the plus side, he felt far calmer than when he'd left, and he'd had a lot of time to think and consider what his next move would be. Before, he hadn't known what to expect, but now he was in command again.

He allowed his drones to help dry him off, remove the salt from his body, and dress him in fresh clothing. Then he sent one of his cooks to fetch him two meals and bring them up to the sitting room on the second floor.

He waited impatiently for the food to be prepared, then led the drone up to the room.

Then he paused, steeling himself, then unlocked the door and opened it.

There was a blur of movement. Almost a blur. Sollux had been in another part of the room, but he darted back to the divan and fell back into it the moment the door started to open. He bent almost double.

"I'm thorry, captain!"

For a second, Eridan was confused. Why was Sollux apologizing? He stepped into the room, looking around suspiciously, but he couldn't see anything out of place. Anyway, there wasn't really much in this room but books and furniture, and a large window which provided ample light and a view of the ocean, but whose individual panes were far too small to crawl through.

"Wwhat did you do?" he demanded. Then he remembered he had told Sollux not to move. He was pretty sure he had said not to move until he got back, before, but he hadn't exactly given Sollux permission to explore the room, either. "Forget it," he said before Sollux could reply. "I wwas gone for fuckin' hours. I kind a expected you to poke around a little."

Sollux looked up tentatively and nodded, his eyebrows pinched in confusion once more as he straightened up. Eridan wondered if he was going to get that confused look every time he failed to act like a raging asshole.

Probably.

He stepped into the room and gestured the drone to set the tray of food down on a side table. "I brought us some food," he said. "You hungry?"

Sollux' eyes darted to the tray and then back uncertainly. "Yeah, I guethh tho."

"Okay," Eridan said. "Go ahead and eat, then."

He crossed the room and sat down on the divan next to Sollux, who twitched away a little before reaching for the food. Eridan watched him grab the plate and dig in hungrily, darting sidelong glances at him every few seconds. _Guess he's hungry,_ he thought with satisfaction.

Finally, the sea dweller reached over and grabbed his own plate. He ate more slowly than Sollux, but Sollux slowed down quickly, beginning to pick at his food when only half of it had gone down his throat.

"You don't like it?" Eridan asked finally, most of the way through his own portion. "I guess you landdwwellers don't get to eat proper fuckin seafood, all that often."

"It'th not that," Sollux said, shooting a glance up at his face, then down again. "It tathteth fine. I jutht haven't eaten real food in a long time."

Eridan swallowed and sat his plate down. "You wwere fed intravvenously by those fuckin' machines, right?"

"Yeth, captain."

"Wwell," Eridan thought about it. "Don't make yourself fuckin' sick, but eat as much as you can. You got a get the proper nutrition. I mean, you look starvved as fuck, as it is. And you aren't gonna be hooked into those machines, anymore, so you'vve got a eat real food."

Sollux stared at him for a full minute, then frowned down at his plate once more. "Yeth...captain." He began to eat again, albeit slowly, and Eridan finished his own food off with satisfaction. One hurdle, cleared.

"Okay," he said, setting his empty plate aside. "Time for us to wwork some stuff out."

Sollux looked up and then put his own back on the tray with what looked like relief, so Eridan had to assume he'd eaten his fill. The slave shifted to face him attentively, folding his hands in his lap.

"Here are your fuckin ground rules, so wwe can both say wwe're on the same fuckin page wwith evverything," Eridan said, holding up a finger and struggling to hide his nervousness. "Number one, you can say anyfin you wwant, just fuckin' ask if you're not shore, because that'll just reduce confusion every wwhich wway."

Sollux nodded, that pinched, confused look back on his face. But he seemed to accept what Eridan said.

Eridan raised another finger. "Twwo, you just do wwhat I say and evveryfin'll be fuckin' fine. And if I havven't told you to do anythin', you just do wwhatevver you feel like, so long as that don't invvolvve contactin' anyone outside a this island, or tryin' to leavve."

Again, Sollux nodded, though some of the confusion cleared from his face.

Eridan hesitated for a moment, thinking, then lowered his hand. "That's it," he said awkwardly.

There was a short silence, then Sollux spoke up. "I can athk quethtionth thtarting now, right?" At Eridan's nod, he said, "What did you mean when you thaid you were flushed for me?"

Oh. That. Eridan had sort of been hoping Sollux would forget all about that, but the chances were pretty slim.

"Don't wworry about that," Eridan huffed loftily. "The past is totally fuckin' irrelevvant to anything that is going on, noww, other than all you need to remember is I am doin' this because I didn't particularly wwant to see you in such dire circumstances."

"But--"

Sollux protest cut off at a soft tap at the door. Eridan quickly spoke up. He was saved! "Come in."

The door opened and a butler drone entered, bowing at the waist. "Highblood. There is a blue blood at the door."

"Wwhat?" Eridan stared for a moment. Who would come visit him without warning him first? Who would come visit him at _all_? He had no friends, and he was on leave until his ship was ready to be launched and his crew was fully assigned. Without a Helmsman, he wasn't going to be taken off leave for a while yet.

The drone wasn't intelligent enough to do much more than answer doors, clean, and follow simple instructions. It stood still, waiting for orders, and had no answer to his question.

Eridan looked at Sollux, whose eyes had gone wide. Then he turned back to the drone. "Bring them in. I'll receivve em right here."

The drone bowed and departed, and Eridan grabbed Sollux by the arm. "Dowwn," he hissed. "On your knees. And you be good and don't say anythin' unless you're specifically addressed, you got that?"

A blue blood was considerably lower than Eridan was, so it wasn't that that had gotten him into a panic. But the only explanation he could think of for a visit from a stranger was because his unusual behaviour had caught the attention of someone, and they had sent the blue to investigate why he had purchased a slave without sending him to be installed at the ship.

Sollux made no sound or protest, despite the strength with which Eridan grabbed at him. He slipped to his knees next to Eridan, bending his head low as if to hide his face and clenching his hands together tightly.

Eridan swallowed. Fuck, Sollux was so fragile. He looked terrified, and Eridan reached out to brush fingers through his hair, nervously hoping that the gesture would soothe him. Sollux made a soft noise in the back of his throat, and Eridan continued to pet him, rubbing a thumb against the base of one of the smaller rear horns.

That was a bit of a violation, he knew, considering Sollux couldn't really tell him no. A troll could rarely resist the intense sensations there, but after all, Sollux was his, now. He could take a few small liberties, especially if it helped him not to panic and freak out. Overall, it was for a good cause.

Gradually, he watched the trembling in Sollux' body cease and the tightness in his shoulders relax.

Then the door banged open and Vriska walked into the room.

It was an effort for Eridan not to actually jump up from the sofa in surprise. He knew his shock showed in his face, at least for a moment, though he normally felt pretty confident in his ability to keep his face neutral. He sat back on the divan a little, struggling for control, as the tall woman strode into the middle of the room.

Only then did he noticed there was someone behind her. The soft hum of servos heralded the entrance of Tavros, shoulders hunched, his horns now so large that he had to turn his head a little and duck even more to get into the room. Wings were folded against his back. Yet despite the enormous horns and the wings - a genetic trait most had thought lost - he looked small and diminished next to Vriska in her blue armour and boots.

"Eridan!" Vriska trilled. "I was in the neighbourhood and I thought I would just come by and see an old--" She stopped, and blinked, staring down at Sollux.

Her discomfiture gave Eridan a few precious moments to recover his own poise. "Vvris, what a surprise to see you," he said, his eyes darting over to Tavros. The orangeblood was still standing behind Vriska, almost as if trying to hide.

And fuck. He had a collar on his neck. There was no leech, but the slave had a certain glassy, or unfocused look to his eyes that made Eridan wonder if he was drugged, or if Vriska was just controlling him.

 _Jegus. Wwhat the actual flippin' fuck._

He realized his fingers had clenched in Sollux' hair, and he opened his hand, smoothing the soft hair down and then withdrawing his hand to rest on his own thigh.

He drew a mental breath. Time to do this.

"You didn't knoww?" he asked with a smirk. "But then wwhy wwould you? I just found him the other day and wwell, it's not like wwe'vve fuckin' talked in swweeps." His eyes slid to Tavros significantly, then back to Vriska, as if what she was doing to the orangeblood was of no consequence to him whatsoever except to illustrate that they haven't chatted in ages. "Wwhat's this fuckin' bullshit you wwere sayin' that you wwere in the neighbourhood, Vvris?"

Her eyes met his, and she smirked in reply, showing her pointed fangs as she stepped over to a chair and threw herself into it. Tavros drifted after her and knelt without any kind of signal. Probably controlled, or just really, really well trained.

The lowbloods didn't even look at each other. It was as if neither of them had anything in their heads other than waiting for the next command, but Eridan knew that Sollux was still capable of some thought. He had definitely been asking questions and that sort of thing, just a minute ago. Tavros, though, had always been weak. There probably wasn't much left of him.

No. He needed not to think about that right now.

He forced himself to pretend Tavros wasn't there, and focused on Vriska. She was the threat.

What was she even doing here? What job did she have? She had dropped off his radar a long time ago, and he hadn't spent too much effort trying to find most of his old friends. Frankly, he had been avoiding it, though some information had drifted to him over the sweeps.

"Why Eridan, I would almost think you weren't happy to see me? What's with all of these questions, hmmmmmmmm?" she said in an almost teasing way that made his teeth ache. It reminded him of their short, whirlwind kismessitude. They had been such children, then. But it had been fun.

He shook his head, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. "I don't evven livve anywwhere near anywwhere civvilized, wwhere you might a been passin' through. I'm on an island in the ocean, on a planet wwhere you don't evven probably livve. So wwhat is it you want?"

She eyed him, her vision eightfold just as creepy as ever, especially with the blue in her eyes, and he glared right back. Finally she sat back.

"Ah...you caught me! I wondered if you'd heard from Feferi, lately," she said, throwing her hands up and then resting one on Tavros' head. He whimpered and leaned into the caress.

Eridan quickly touched Sollux again, rubbing one of his horns. The yellowblood slave turned his head towards Eridan, resting his forehead against the sea dweller's knee. It was...ridiculously cute, actually. He rubbed a little harder, approving.

"Wwhy wwould I havve heard from Fef?" he sneered, trying not to be distracted by Sollux. "Not like any a you havve givven me the time a day in swweeps."

"Yes, _yes_ , Eridan, you are so hard done by and abused." Vriska rolled her eyes. "Do you really think that the others have any more love for me? Yet I almost think you've been hiding. You've been a very hard person to catch up with, always off on some military campaign or another. Congratulations on your promotion, by the way."

Eridan hesitated, startled. "Uh...thanks, Vvris," he said, his head spinning a bit. "I havven't been hidin, though, just busy wwhat wwith my meteoric rise to powwer that I'm on right now. And anyway, that's rich coming from you, considering I don't evven knoww wwhere you'vve been for at least a swweep, nor wwhat kind of career you havve."

"Me?" She bared her teeth cheekily. "I'm a pirate, of course."

Eridan stared at her. "Seriously?"

She laughed and toyed with the base of Tavros' right horn with a claw. He shivered visibly and made a soft, pathetic mewling sound. "Of course not! But what I do is so totally _classified_ that you're just going to have to be disappointed when I completely refuse to tell you about it."

Suddenly, Eridan realized he was having fun. This was just like old times, though old times hadn't included them both petting slaves while they engaged in witty repartee.

Maybe Vriska really was here to see him, though that stuff about her job being secret was worrying. Still, if they were going to investigate him, they wouldn't send someone so obviously suspicious. Besides, he hadn't done anything illegal in buying Sollux and keeping him for himself. Strange, perhaps, but not illegal.

"Come on, Vvris," he said, his own smirk widening. "Wwe're old friends, and I knoww you didn't just come here to tease me wwith trifles. You can tell me wwhat's reely goin' on, or at least wwhether you're really here for business or pleasure."

She sighed exaggeratedly. "I'm here for business, of course! And I already told you, I came to find out if Feferi had contacted you. But you're clearly useless, as usual, so I came all this way for nothing."

"Wwhy wwouldn't you havve just trolled me if you wwanted to knoww somethin' that simple?" Eridan protested, dropping his voice into a more seductive register.

She didn't rise to the bait. "Because, there was every chance that your communications might have been hacked." Her eyes slid to Sollux. "At least, so I thought. But apparently that's not likely, after all. How did you _find_ him?"

Wait. Hacked?

"Nevvermind that," Eridan said, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Vvris, why are you lookin' for Fef?"

She sighed and waved a hand impatiently. "You really are a numbskull, sometimes. Don't you know that the Cult of the Sufferer is gaining ground again? Do you even know what that _is_? And there's suspicion that Karkat and Feferi have joined forces, to put her on the throne."

Eridan's jaw dropped. "Wwhat?"

"You really are useless," Vriska got to her feet. "I'm done here, if you've got nothing for me."

"Wwait!" Eridan jumped up and took two steps towards her.

Sollux stayed where he was, but Tavros had already gotten to his feet and he stepped between them, horns lowered towards Eridan. Fuck. Those things were huge. And while lowblood psychics who'd been brainwashed generally couldn't attack highbloods, they could do it if they were specifically ordered to by the one they were attached to, or if they were mind controlled, say, by a huge bitch of a blue blood.

Vriska glanced over her shoulder at him, sly and smirking. "Do you have something for me, after all?"

"I don't know anyfin more about the lowblood revvolution than I'vve been told because a my position, Vvris, what do you take me for?" Eridan snapped. "Like I wwould support somethin' like that, throwwing our entire fuckin' civvilization into chaos for a bunch a measly lowwblood scum wwho think that they're not gettin' wwhat they deservve wwhen it's clear that they just don't knoww their place."

Vriska just looked at him. "No, of course you wouldn't."

"So, all that bein' said, wwe're not done. You sayin' that Fef and Kar are out there bein' the ones wwho are stirrin' up rebellion, and that you thought Sol wwas wwith 'em, possibly hacking my netwwork?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Vriska said, her eyes sliding to Sollux once more. "But as I also said, it's clear that Sollux isn't a threat, after all."

"Yeah, clearly," Eridan growled. "Seein' as he's brainwwashed and practically as mindless as your fuckin' toy you got right there." He gestured at Tavros. "Howw long has he been wwith you, anywway? Howw'd you evven find him?"

"Oh... I've got ways," Vriska purred, pressing a gloved fingertip to her blue-painted lips. "Quite a few people do favours for me if they know what's good for them. And I didn't want my precious Pupa Pan to have too hard a life."

Eridan snorted derisively.

She smirked once more and turned away. "If you hear from Feferi, troll me. Like you said, we can't let the entire Empire be brought down by a mutant and a Tyrian who's too squeamish to cull those who need culling."

"Yeah, I wwill, you can count on me, Vvris," Eridan said firmly, though his insides were swirling. "Uh, and come back anytime. I miss our chats."

She snorted. "I bet you do."

And then she strode out of the room again, Tavros following docilely on her heels, and the door closed.

He waited for about ten seconds for the clipped sound of her bootheels to fade completely, then Eridan returned to the divan and sank down into it, holding his head in his hands. "Holy fuckin' shit."

Sollux said nothing at first, resting his forehead against Eridan's knee once more. He was shaking again, and Eridan reached out almost automatically to stroke his hair, then curled two fingers lightly around one of his smaller horns, rubbing with the pads of his fingers.

"She hath Tavroth," Sollux whispered.

Eridan winced. "Yeah, she shore fuckin' does."

So much about what had just happened had just thrown him right off the fucking rails. First seeing Vriska at all, then watching her carting around Tavros like a fucking luggage carrier, except apparently he was also her bodyguard. Then talking about Feferi and Karkat, and discovering that they were apparently behind the current rumblings of lowblood revolt - the first such rumblings since the Summoner had been put down like the dog he had been centuries ago.

He had no idea what to feel, and he felt so fucking alone and confused he might scream.

Well. There was one solution.

He slid down onto the floor and wrapped both arms around Sollux. The lowblood made a soft noise in his throat, stiffening in surprise, then slowly wound his arms around Eridan in return.

It felt so warm. Eridan shivered and buried his face against Sollux' shoulder, ignoring the voice that told him that this was stupid, that he had to stay strong, that he couldn't just show emotion anymore like a wriggler, and especially not in front of _anyone_. Not _ever_. That was what had always gotten him into trouble, and he just had to accept the fact that no one really cared about how he felt.

But this was Sollux. He couldn't do a thing to hurt Eridan, no matter how much he might want to. And he could never leave, either.

He was safe.

Eridan kissed him, and felt Sollux tense up. But the instant before he would have withdrawn, Sollux's lips tentatively softened and suddenly they were kissing, soft and sweet and gentle. There was wetness between them, and Eridan wasn't sure whose it was, or what colour the tears were.

But it didn't matter. He wasn't alone, anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Sollux' first day as Eridan's slave was both eventful and emotional, but the four days to follow were characterized largely by boredom punctuated by brief bursts of confusion and fear.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do, so he wandered, and read, and avoided even _looking_ at any of the computers. The sight of a husktop made him want to reach out to someone, connect back into the world, but that thought would always be immediately followed by a horrible, painful tightness in his chest. Eridan had said he couldn't contact anyone outside the island, and the only way to ensure he wouldn't succumb to the temptation of disobeying was to stay away from computers entirely.

He didn't know how to swim, though he did spend some time down at the beach, sitting on the sand and staring out at the ocean, just enjoying the feeling of real air ruffling his hair and the cool comfort of dusk and the light of the moon. This planet only had one.

But the fact was, without a purpose there was little to fill his time, which meant there was little to distract him from the voices in his head - supernatural, and otherwise.

Eridan had said that Sollux would serve him in other ways, so gradually as the days wore on he tried to help around the hive. Not that the drones didn't do a good job, but it was something to do.

The first time he brought a tray up to his captain with food, Eridan looked surprised, but pleased, and rewarded him with another kiss. After that, Sollux always brought him his meals, and always got a kiss in return.

That was the thing about Eridan. He mostly left him alone, or talked to him about general things, but didn't order him around that much. The worst was when he was frustrated. Eridan had a tendency to fly off the handle, his voice rising as he ranted about something, and Sollux could instantly feel his training taking over. The slave would shake and cower, but Eridan never struck him or punished him in any real way.

In fact, the only thing he really did that truly bothered Sollux was touch him. He couldn't pass by Eridan in the hall without the sea dweller wrapping an arm around him and giving his cheek a nuzzle, or pressing lips to his mouth. Each time it made Sollux' chest tight with nervousness, his stomach full of flutterbeasts. But he never went further than that. Not yet, anyway.

Eridan had said he didn't want him as a sex slave, but here he was, rubbing his horns any time they sat together, or kissing him whenever he got the chance. He was obviously so desperate for some kind of affection, he simply couldn't keep his hands off of Sollux.

He almost felt sorry for him, even though the attention made him uncomfortable.

Sollux could only conclude that Eridan _wanted_ him, but was trying to fool himself into thinking that he wasn't going to use him as a sex slave anyway. Or maybe he was just gearing himself up to go for it. Or trying to get Sollux to make the first move, so he wouldn't have to feel guilty.

And the anticipation, just waiting around for Eridan to push him further and knowing he could do nothing to resist, was killing him.

By the end of the fourth day, though, Sollux had had a lot of time to think about what he was doing and what was happening to him.

And he had made a decision.

Day was approaching, and he sat in his respite block in the tower room, just below Eridan's own respite block. He had stripped down to shorts and sat on the edge of his recuperacoon, watching the sky slowly lightening outside the window. The windows were smart-tinted, darkening as the light outside increased, keeping the light levels inside the hive at comfortable levels.

Above him, only a short flight of stairs away, he could hear Eridan moving about.

Slowly, Sollux got up and stepped out the door, then climbed the stairs. He stood outside Eridan's door and took a few deep breaths.

Perhaps there was no point in even doing this. Eridan had total control over his fate, and if he denied this request, Sollux would simply have to acquiesce. But he had to try something. At least he had a plan, and it seemed like the only thing that would break this stalemate. At this point even a bad result seemed better than no change at all.

He raised a hand and knocked.

"Come in," Eridan called from inside, and Sollux' hand turned the knob before he had even consciously decided to do it. The order swept away most of the nervousness that would have made him hesitate, and in a few moments he was inside the room.

"Sol?" Eridan blinked at him. "Is something wwrong?"

He had been dressed in a uniform of sorts every time Sollux had seen him so far, purple piping over black, plus all the rings, of course. But right now he wore nothing but a pair of soft flannel pants with a blue and black stripe, similar to what he'd worn as a child. It made him look less intimidating, though 'less' was still a great deal to the conditioned slave.

"No, captain," Sollux said slowly. "I, uh."

Eridan's expression spread into a smile and he crossed the room towards him. "Hey, no need to be nervvous. I'm reel glad you came." He raised a hand and touched Sollux' cheek, and Sollux flinched involuntarily.

No, he had to stay strong.

"Captain, I...I have a requetht," Sollux stammered, struggling to keep his poise. Eridan's thumb was rubbing against his cheek and it was very distracting.

"You came to talk?" Eridan sounded disappointed. "Wwell, okay. We could a talked any time today, but come on, let's talk."

He slipped his arm around Sollux' shoulders and guided him over to a sofa. The room was very large, with a huge recuperacoon in one corner, a fireplace, and a sofa, and the walls were pretty much all windows. The windows were polarizing as the sun came up, but the view was still spectacular. Sollux was too distracted to really look at it.

He sat down and let Eridan guide him to lean against his chest. Fuck, this was going to go so badly. _So badly._ Now he wanted to abscond, and his heart was racing, but he couldn't leave.

Sollux squeezed his eyes shut and plunged in. "I want to go to kk and ff."

He felt the muscles tense in Eridan's body and his fingers close more tightly around his shoulder. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, no, no, please don't be mad, please._

"Wwhy wwould I fuckin' let you do that?" Eridan didn't sound mad. His tone was very even and cold, which was about a hundred times more terrifying.

Sollux felt the tears starting in his eyes and he swallowed hard, tucking his head down further against Eridan's chest and shaking a little. "I'm thorry, captain."

Eridan's chest rose as he drew in a deep breath, then fell. "I _said_ , tell me wwhy."

With such a clear command, there was nothing Sollux could do to take it back. Words spilled from his mouth despite his half-closed wind-tube.

"It'th jutht that, I'm pretty uthelethh here. And I know you don't...thupport what they're doing, but they're my friendth, and maybe I can be of thome good to them. Um, and maybe I can come back here, onthe I've made contact, and do my thing from your hive, tho it'th not like I'm athking to leave permanently." He'd thought it through. While he doubted that Eridan considered the revolution to be any kind of a real threat to the stability of the empire, Sollux suspected that for there to be any chance of Eridan granting this request, he had to promise to return. He drew in a breath and finished more softly. "You wouldn't be in any danger. There'th no one in the Empire who can crack... my... encryption..."

Eridan's hand had wrapped around one of his big horns and Sollux' voice trailed off helplessly. He closed his mouth on any further babbling and whimpered as soothing pleasure flowed through him like warm water. Eridan was pretty good at that, rubbing the pad of his finger along the base of the horn to stimulate it without nicking him with his claws.

The silence stretched out as Sollux began to squirm, his fingers clenching and relaxing helplessly under the horn stimulation.

"You think I don't knoww wwhat'd happen once you fuckin' got there?" Eridan said finally, letting go of Sollux' horn. "You think I'm a fuckin' idiot, Sol?"

"No..." Sollux protested, wincing. This was the worst of all possible reactions. "I don't think you're an idiot--"

"Good, because you'd havve to think I wwas a fuckin' idiot not to expect me to realize that as soon as you fuckin' got there, Kar and Fef and wwhoevver else wwould just assume I'vve been hurtin' you, because they upright think I'm evvil, anywway, and then they'd never let you come back!" Eridan snapped.

Sollux felt tingles run down his body, his conditioning loosening his muscles until he couldn't move. He cowered, trembling in fear, as Eridan gripped his shoulder and dragged him even closer.

"I'll tell them you're not like that," Sollux whispered hollowly.

"As if they'd believve a fuckin' broken slavve," Eridan sneered. "You havve to obey me, and wwe both knoww it. I could a been givving you all kinds a things to say."

"They...they can't thtop me from coming back if I really want to," Sollux pointed out bravely, quivering. "Becauthe I'd have to obey your orderth. I could uthe my powerth to ethcape, tho long ath I didn't hurt anyone."

"You havve to obey _Fef_ , too," Eridan pointed out, and Sollux stilled in shock. Feferi wouldn't want him to be her slave, of course. But she would give him orders if she thought it would protect him. She could be ruthless, if she needed to be. And she was higher blood than Eridan, which would easily give her orders precedence.

Eridan let go of Sollux and got up, moving to pace the room. It took immense effort for Sollux to look up enough to watch him, but once he saw the form of his captain, he followed his path back and forth as if a chain bound his eyes to Eridan.

The sea dweller shot him a look every few seconds, but Sollux couldn't tell what he was thinking about, or why he was still so agitated. He'd said no, obviously, so there wasn't much more to say.

Except there apparently was.

"If you're so goddamn needy of somethin' to do, I'm sure I can think of somethin'," he said. "I wwould a thought you'd appreciate a bit a R&R after your experiences, but maybe I wwas mistaken."

Sollux frowned and sat up a little more. "I appreciate it! But it'th...hard not to think...too much, when I don't have anything to do," he said slowly.

Eridan nodded and frowned deeply, obviously in thought. "Wwell, you can be a personal servvant, wwhen I get my ship. That's upright doable, and a pretty prestigious position for someone a your blood. That'll keep you busy."

A personal servant? How far was Eridan planning on taking this thing? That kind of position usually went to greens or even blues, not slaves. "Not your helmthman?" Sollux asked nervously.

"I fuckin' _said_ I'm not making you my fuckin' helmsman," Eridan said emphatically, shooting a glare at Sollux that closed his wind tube momentarily.

"I-I know," he said breathlessly, cringing back into the sofa. "I'm thorry. Tho you're going to get another helmthman, then?"

"Obvviously," Eridan said, rolling his eyes. "My ship wwon't be too much good wwithout one."

Apparently only Sollux was special enough to avoid that fate. His heart sank even further and he sighed, rubbing his forehead. He had such a headache. All the emotions coursing through his body were just so exhausting.

Eridan sat down beside him and pulled him close again, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. In his current mood, Sollux actually found it a bit comforting, and he nervously wrapped his arms around Eridan's neck, sighing.

"You thaid you were flushed for me," Sollux said softly. "That'th why you're doing all of thith."

As he had before when Sollux asked about this, Eridan stiffened a little. "I wwasn't lyin'," he growled.

He clutched at Eridan, clinging to him. Last time, Eridan had left the room for hours, but he _needed_ to know. "Pleathe," Sollux begged. "Tell me how you feel. Really. I jutht...I need to underthtand."

Eridan swore softly and sat back, tightening his arms around Sollux. "Look, it's not so fuckin' complicated, okay? You wwere alwways a pitiful fuck. I kneww your feelins for me wwere black as pitch if they were any kind a romantic colour, and there wwas definitely a part a me that hated you. You had everyfin I ever wwanted - Fef, all kinds a people who fuckin' cared about you."

Sollux nodded, perplexed. So was he flushed or not? This explanation really wasn't clearing it up.

"But the truth wwas, you wwere still fuckin' miserable all the time, and you didn't think you wwere wworth anything, evven though you had wwhat I wwanted," Eridan said with a sigh. "And you're a lowwblood mutant, too. So I couldn't help but pity you. I just kneww I'd nevver get anywwhere wwith you in that quadrant, so I wwent with the hate. I hoped maybe once you got to knoww me, you'd start to realize I could be pitied, too."

Weirdly, Sollux could see it. The highblood was so desperately lonely and starved for affection, even now, as a slave, Sollux felt a bit sorry for him. Hadn't he been thinking about that, earlier?

"Okay," he said slowly. "And you're thtill flushed for me, even though I'm a thlave? Motht highbloodth don't really...care."

"Wwell I'm not most fuckin' highbloods, obvviously," Eridan said defensively. "You're not just some random lowwblood I picked up. You're _Sol_. I knoww you."

Suddenly, Sollux felt a bit like an asshole. It was easy to think of Eridan as being devoid of empathy, but he really wasn't. Sure, he hid his true feelings a lot behind a shield of highblood arrogance. And he was a selfish, self-centred douche most of the time. But that didn't mean he was the kind of cold-hearted person who could see a former flush-crush on the slave block and callously think of him as nothing more than an object to be used, rather than a person.

"Fuck, I'm thorry," Sollux said, wrapped his arms around Eridan's neck, and hugged him. "I'm being thtupid, ath usual. You aren't like that, no matter how much you uthed to pithh me off."

Eridan stiffened, startled. "You, uh, upright mean that?"

Things were rearranging themselves in Sollux' mind. Eridan could hurt him, badly, but finally he felt like he could accept, truly and completely, that he didn't _intend_ to hurt him. Just knowing that lifted a huge weight that had been compressing his chest and shoulders for four days.

Smiling just a little, Sollux nodded and suddenly Eridan's arms had tightened around him in a rib-cracking hug, and the sea dweller's lips were on his again.

And you know? It really wasn't that bad, after all.

They kissed for a while, tongues tangling together, though Sollux was definitely submissive to Eridan's more forceful exploration. He moaned as Eridan rubbed at one of his horns again, his chest giving a lurch of nervousness as Eridan laid him down on the couch and bent over him, kissing him even more deeply.

But he was okay with this. Mostly. Pretty much okay.

Finally they were both breathless and Eridan lifted up, looking down at him with a pensive, almost pinched expression.

"What ith it, captain?" Sollux asked nervously, after a moment.

"You really wwant to go to Kar and Fef?"

Sollux swallowed, feeling as if he were walking on eggshells all of a sudden. But he could only be honest. "...Yeah?"

Eridan sighed and lowered his head, closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm gonna spend tonight tryin' to convvince you otherwwise," he murmured. "You tell me at dusk wwhat you decide. Deal?"

Sollux' eyes widened. "Um. Deal."


	4. Chapter 4

It was the best day of Eridan's life.

As Sollux nodded, acquiescing to the deal, Eridan surged forward again and kissed him even more forcefully than before. This time, his slave didn't flinch - much - and while his shoulders were tense, he didn't seem upset, as he had before.

Eridan's tongue pushed forward eagerly and Sollux' mouth opened obediently to it, a soft noise bubbling up in his throat. He tasted wonderful, and Eridan enjoyed it hungrily as he pressed Sollux more firmly down with his weight and slid a hand under his shirt. Their bare stomachs touched as Sollux' shirt was pushed up by the motion.

God. This was incredible, just what he had been aching for. He well-remembered the shame and humiliation he had felt, the first time he paid for a pailing, only hours before the Imperial Drones came knocking. The blue he found online to do it had said it was common, nothing for him to feel badly about, but he had felt that he, at least, deserved better.

Now he had it. For one quadrant, at least. And blackrom was not really a problem for him, in comparison. He could find someone to hate him if he just put in the time. Pity, though, had always seemed beyond his reach.

Who cared that Sollux was a slave?

Who cared that he was a lowblood, and a mutant?

He was Eridan's.

Now he just had to figure out how to keep him.

That thought gave him pause. He lifted his head and regarded Sollux for a moment. His eyes were tightly shut and he looked rather sweet and vulnerable without his glasses, a pinched look of concentration on his face.

 _I could just change my mind,_ Eridan thought, his fingers playing down Sollux' too-prominent ribs. Sollux shuddered and a fang peeked out to press into his lower lip. _Not like he can say anythin' against it._

But what would be the point of that? He'd seen miserable Sollux, reluctant and fearful Sollux. He recalled Tavros, lost forever in Vriska's web, and it turned his food processing bag, making him nauseous just to think of it.

He was better than that, wasn't he? His best victory against all of those who thought he was horrible and deserved his misery and loneliness was to win Sollux fair and square.

Panic rose in him as he realized he had absolutely no idea how to do that.

He bent to kiss Sollux' throat, buying himself time as he thought about it.

Nope. He had nothing.

 _Fuck. Fuck. Wwhat am I gonna do?_ he thought in rising anxiety. He had made this deal, and really he had no idea how he was going to succeed.

Struggling to put it out of his mind for now, he went for Sollux' pants, a simple draw-string with elastic at the waist.

Suddenly, Sollux squealed and jerked back, throwing himself bodily away from Eridan and tumbling onto the floor. There he curled into a quaking ball, face pressed to the carpet.

"Pleathe, captain. I--I'm thorry, pleathe, I can't, I can't," he babbled, to Eridan's shock and dismay.

For a second, Eridan felt anger and frustration eclipse his confusion. He had been totally into it a second ago, hadn't he? And now this. What right did Sollux even have to say no to him? They had promised him an obedient servant, and clearly this wasn't it.

But the flash of anger was short-lived. He _had_ to prove himself. That meant figuring out what was wrong and fixing it.

He was a bright guy. He could do this.

Eridan slid from the sofa onto the floor and put a hand to Sollux' hair, stroking soothingly. His bulge throbbed distractingly, though - Sollux looked incredibly enticing like this - but he controlled himself, rubbing the base of one of the slave's horns.

Sollux keened in fear, but slumped a little, uncurling and - with some encouragement from Eridan - settling his cheek against Eridan's thigh.

"Wwhat's the problem noww, Sol?" Eridan asked, once Sollux' breathing had started to calm. I'vve got a admit, I'm gettin' some serious mixed signals here. But I'm upright convvinced wwe can wwork it out if you let me in on wwhat's goin' on in that fucked up head a yours."

Sollux swallowed audibly. "It's nothing," he said meekly, and Eridan's fingers tensed in his hair slightly. Seriously? Sollux seemed to sense his displeasure at that blatant lie, and quickly hurried on. "I jutht think... uh, ithn't there thomething elthe I can do to convinthe you? Pleathe?"

Eridan could actually feel his heart breaking. Sollux might not mind that Eridan was flushed for him, and might even pity him a little, but he really didn't want him. Even a fucking yellow-blood slave was too good to be Eridan's matesprit.

"You ain't attracted to me?" Eridan asked, forcing the words out through a wind-tube that was closing up on him. "Is that wwhat you're tryin' to say? Because that's fuckin' rich comin' from the likes a you--" He bit back more, swallowing bile. "Uh, wwhat I mean is..." But he trailed off, unable to think of a way of making what he'd just said sound better.

To his astonishment, Sollux only laughed bitterly. "It'th not that, captain. Fuck, you're hot ath hell. It'th the egthact oppothite. I'm a dud, okay? You don't want to go there, trutht me."

Huh? "If I let you join the rebellion, wwill you be my matesprit?" Eridan asked desperately, throwing caution to the wind. "I'm real serious right here, Sol."

Sollux lifted his head, gently pushing Eridan's hand off of his horn, and stared at him. "What did you thay?"

Eridan swallowed, struggling to look into those mismatched eyes without flinching. "If I let you go, wwill you be my matesprit? It's not that fuckin' complicated to understand my meaning."

Sollux visibly hesitated. "What if you learn thomething that maketh you not want to be my matethprit anymore?"

"That's so ridiculously unlikely that it's not evven wworth botherin' to discuss it," Eridan said with exasperation. "Wwhat are ou implyin', that they carpstrated you or somethin'? That makes no fuckin' sense! They told me they pail the slavves to preserve the strongly psychic genetic lines, and that'd include you."

"They didn't cathtrate me," Sollux said, his cheeks bright yellow. "Oh fuck, I'll jutht show you. You'll find out anyway."

He ripped off his shirt in a quick motion, then eeled out of his pants, settling onto his knees. His bulge - bulges - protruded from under a single bone sheath, smaller than average, and definitely _two_."

Eridan gaped. "Glub."

"Thee?"

Eridan was surprised, no doubt about that, but he didn't hesitate. Pity threatened to overwhelm him, matched by a swell of unadulterated glee. He had a chance. Who else would Sollux go to if he were this ashamed of his mutation? He really would be Eridan's, completely.

The sea dweller smiled and leaned forward, curling his fingers around the two small, timid bulges. Sollux was so nervous, they had barely emerged, and now they tried to retreat from his touch, but he reached and stroked the sensitive flesh with his fingertips. Sollux groaned and his forehead dropped hard against Eridan's shoulder.

"Like I give a fuck about that, Sol," Eridan said, choosing his words carefully. He couldn't let Sollux think it was no big deal, or he might think someone else would feel the same way. "I figured on somethin' like that, but I'vve already seen you at your wworst. I can take this, as part a the package, and I wwon't hold it against you."

Sollux' hands came up and encircled Eridan, making his heart beat a little faster again. The bulges grew bolder, curling against his palm, and he felt his own groin twitch with eager desire.

"Really? You can thtand thith?" the slave asked nervously.

"It's not so bad," Eridan said kindly. "Really, I should a expected somethin' along those lines. But the real question is, wwith all a this, can you find it in your heart to pity me, in return?"

He held his breath, but he was rewarded quickly when Sollux kissed him eagerly and sweetly, tongues - yeah, he hadn't noticed before, but _plural_ \- delving out to taste. Eridan was more than happy to tangle with those, and when they came up for air, he saw a genuine grin on Sollux' face.

"You're dethperate enough to want a fucked up, mutated thlave like me for a matethprit. Of courthe I pity you."

Eridan might have been offended, but then they were kissing again, and Sollux climbed up to straddle Eridan's thighs, his bulges coming out fully to twine about Eridan's forearm.

He had two nooks, too.

Eridan really didn't give a flying fuck about that.

======>

arachnidsGrip [AG] started trolling contractingGlory [CG]

AG: Heeeeeeeey Karkat!   
CG: OH FUCK ME WITH A RUSTY EATING UTENSIL, IT'S YOU.  
CG: WHY ARE YOU TROLLING ME?   
AG: I have good news, and I have 8ad news. Which do you want first?   
CG: GIVE ME THE SHITTY NEWS FIRST.  
CG: MAYBE THE PROMISE OF IMMINENT GOOD NEWS WILL KEEP ME FROM WANTING TO DROWN MYSELF IN MISERY BEFORE I HEAR IT.   
AG: I dou8t it.  
AG: The 8ad news is that I found Sollux.   
CG: FUCK.  
CG: I DON'T THINK I WANT TO KNOW WHY THAT'S BAD.   
AG: 8ecause he's with Eridan! >::::D   
CG: OH MY GOD  
CG: SHIT  
CG: SHIT  
CG: WHAT'S THE GOOD NEWS?   
AG: I lied, there is no good news for you. ::::/    
CG: I REALLY, REALLY HATE YOU, SPIDER BITCH.   
AG: 8estill my heart!   
CG: FUCK. YOU.  
CG: NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN.   
AG: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  
AG: l8er! I always love our chats.

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling contractingGlory [CG]

======>

They lay in a sweaty heap on the floor, full pail shoved out of the way for later preservation. Eridan was curled around the smaller troll protectively, lazily nuzzling his hair and nosing about the base of a horn while Sollux shivered and mewled with the aftermath of his orgasm.

Finally, he took pity on Sollux and buried his nose against his neck instead, grinning like an idiot.

"My recuperacoon is big enough for twwo if you wwant," he suggested.

"Thoundth nithe," Sollux murmured around a yawn.

Eridan hesitated, then asked a question he'd never really considered before. "You happy? ...Happier, at least?"

Sollux turned his head slightly and pressed a kiss to Eridan's lips. It was so warm. "Yeth, captain."

Eridan's heart leaped. He'd done it! "So, by that I'm understandin' that you'll givve up on this revvolution nonsense?"

"Uh..."

Fuck. "Wwell come on, Sol," Eridan whined. "Wwhat more can I do? I'vve laid my fuckin' heart on the line here and made it clear my priority is to make you as happy as I can under difficult circumstances. Wwhat more do you wwant?"

Sollux was silent for a moment. "I want to help my friendth," he said softly. "They're your friendth, too, captain. Whatever you think, we never hated you ath much ath you think we did."

Eridan's grip tightened, but he felt like he was trying to maintain a grip on dry sand. The harder he squeezed, the more slipped through his fingers.

"I'll take you here," he whispered miserably. "If it's wwhat you really wwant."

Sollux gasped softly, then hugged him tight. "Trutht me, captain," he murmured. "You can trutht me. I'll come back. I _promithe_."

 _Yeah, right,_ Eridan thought. _And wwhat'll Kar do wwhen he hears you talkin' like that?_

Why didn't he ever get to keep anyone, no matter how hard he tried?


	5. Chapter 5

They took a commercial shuttle to Alternia. There weren't a lot of them, and travel to the cradle of troll civilization was generally restricted, but with Eridan's fins, and the newly-minted Captain's stripes on his shoulder, no one raised much of a fuss.

They didn't provide a seat for Sollux on the shuttle. He sat on the floor at his master's feet and occasionally topped up his wine when instructed. In fact, Eridan spent a lot of the flight intoxicated, and Sollux held his breath any time anyone came to ask if they needed anything, for fear that he'd say something stupid.

But his fears weren't realized. Eridan said little, though he was surly and snappish, his hand rarely leaving Sollux' hair. He had to keep shifting to keep him from getting a good grip on his horns, trying to keep his mind clear and not wanting to get too foggy. With Eridan half-drunk, Sollux felt like he needed to be alert, even if there was nothing he could do against a higher blood without Eridan's order.

The flight was, ultimately, uneventful, and the welcoming dusk air of Alternia was like coming home.

They took over an empty hive - it was amazing how accommodating people could be of a sea dweller's whims - and for the first time since he was eight sweeps old, Sollux sat down in front of a husktop.

The only Trollian contact online when he logged in was arachnidsGrip, and he was thankful he'd hacked the program to stealth mode before he logged on. He wasn't surprised by the radio silence. No carcinoGeneticist. No cuttlefishCuller. No adiosToreador or apocalypseArisen. But considering everything he knew, it only made sense that those trolls would either have changed their Trollian handles to hide, or simply didn't have access to Trollian anymore.

He had thought a lot about what he would do, so there was no hesitation. He placed an ad in an online forum.

two Afflicted lookiing for love iin all the wrong place2.  
where can they fiind a friiend?

Now he just had to wait and hope Karkat found it before the Imperial forces got suspicious. Or before Eridan decided he'd waited long enough, and forced him off Alternia again.

He could hear Eridan in the next room, swearing as he pushed the furniture around. He had decided that Sollux would sleep in a recuperacoon in the room adjoining the one Eridan chose, despite the fact that that room was basically just an antechamber, and not intended to be a bedroom. But he had insisted on doing the work himself, though Sollux could just levitate the furniture into place. Sollux suspected he just wanted something to do.

Still, Sollux himself had nothing to do now. Perhaps if he went to help his captain, Eridan would calm down a little and be reassured.

He rose from the chair, tearing himself reluctantly away from the computer to do just that. But at that moment, the husktop chimed. There was a message, already, in answer to his posting.

two Afflicted  
i see you have hope  
love is on its way

"What the actual fuck?"

"Wwhat is it?" Eridan was in the doorway, looking sulky, but at least he seemed curious and concerned about Sollux' outburst rather than apathetic or angry.

Sollux walked towards him and let Eridan tug him close, resting a hand against the sea dweller's chest. Eridan had gotten progressively clingier the closer they got to Alternia.

"I got an anthwer to my potht already," he said, frowning. "Like thomeone wath waiting for me."

No sooner had he said it, but the door to the hive opened, the creak of the hinges clearly audible from where they were standing. Sollux whirled in shock as footsteps pounded towards them, both upstairs and down, and two trolls stepped into the room.

Gamzee and Terezi.

"Wwhat's the meanin' of this?" Eridan demanded, shoving Sollux behind him protectively. "Don't you people remember how to fuckin' knock?"

Sollux' eyes didn't seem able to leave Gamzee, the terror of seeing a subjugglator's paint a bit too great when it was so unexpected, even if he did know the troll.

Gamzee's indigo eyes were sharp, not at all dulled by sopor. But then, he hadn't done much of that in sweeps.

"We ain't here for any stinking fish," Gamzee drawled. " _Get out of the way of us motherfuckers_ , and this motherfuckin' pair of us won't have to get all subjugglator on any sea dwelling ass."

Terezi seemed to be all grinning teeth, holding her dragon-head-topped cane out in front of her in a threatening manner.

"You heard him, Eridan," Terezi said. She looked like she'd like nothing better than to ram her cane down Eridan's throat. But then she turned her head fractionally, and her face softened, as if she were looking straight at Sollux, and she held out her free hand in offer. "Sollux, just come with us. It's all right. Come on."

"Don't fuckin' move," Eridan hissed. Sollux hadn't had any intention of going to Terezi, far too freaked out and confused to even consider it. But Eridan's command kept him rooted to the spot, anyway.

" _Don't do this,_ honk honk," Gamzee said. "We might have ta get out the motherfuckin' _big guns._ "

"I thought you were a huge asshole, Eridan, but you don't have to prove me right all the time!" Terezi exclaimed, taking an aggressive step forward. "Let him go, and we'll let you live. Though it's not like you _deserve_ to."

"I haven't done anyfin that isn't my fuckin' right to do!" Eridan snapped angrily, Ahab's Crosshairs appearing in his hands.

Sollux could see this all spiralling out of control, but he was helpless to do anything. All of them were tripping every one of his conditioned reflexes, and all he wanted to do was throw himself to the ground and wait until the highbloods battled it out and someone told him what to do next.

Then two more trolls stepped into the room, fanning out to flank Terezi and Gamzee.

Karkat was dressed in a tall pair of leggings, his symbol stitched in red over his heart, and a red-edged cloak around his shoulders.

Feferi was almost dripping with jewels, silks rustling as she walked, her dress black and tyrian purple. She held her head high and regally, though there was still an edge of that girlishness around her mouth and in her eyes. That was hard to see, though, considering she was glaring daggers at Eridan.

"That's e-fucking-nough," Karkat snarled. "Eridan, you are officially the biggest douchebag in the universe. The prize, it goes to you. I didn't want to do this, but you've forced me into it."

"Wwhat the fuck, I havven't evven--"

"Sollux," Feferi said, her voice a whipcrack of command. "Come to me."

He wavered. Eridan was facing down four trolls who wanted him dead, and all of Eridan's fears about bringing Sollux here were coming true in the worst possible way. They weren't just taking Sollux away from him - they were probably going to kill him. Sollux should never have insisted that he come here. This was all his fault!

Sollux took two steps around Eridan, eyes darting quickly from Feferi to the others. "Mithtrethh," he whimpered. "I..."

" _Now._ "

He turned and threw himself down, two opposing urges warring in him, but he grabbed onto Eridan's legs and clung to them, tears leaking from his eyes. He was being bad. Feferi outranked Eridan. He should be obeying _her_ , and he was utterly, mindlessly terrified.

Eridan's fingers touched his hair. They were trembling a little.

The room was utterly silent.

"What the fuck did you do?" Karkat hissed.

"The real question is," Eridan said, his voice shaking with anger. "Is wwhy you think it wwas okay to do that to Sol? That's fuckin unconscionable, usin' his conditionin' like that."

"Oh my god, he's right," Feferi whispered. "What did we just try to do?"

There was a beat, then. "Take them both," Karkat growled, stomping out of the room. "We'll sort it all out later. _Fuck!_ "

Sollux sensed people coming closer and clung harder, but the hands that touched him were gentle. He looked up into muddy red eyes and stared in shock as Aradia pried his fingers firmly off of Eridan's legs. "AA?" he whispered.

"It's all right, Sollux," she said, taking his arm in a firm grip and drawing him to his feet. She, like Vriska, no longer had the god tier wings. But there was a self-assurance about Aradia that told him that unlike himself and Tavros, if they had taken her for training, they hadn't been able to keep her long.

"Don't hurt him," he begged. Gamzee had Eridan by the arms, and the sea dweller was throwing nasty looks at the taller land dweller, and nervous looks over at Sollux. Terezi had his gun and prodded him hard in the back with it.

"No one's going to hurt anyone," Aradia said. "Everything's going to be fine."

He didn't believe her, but the next moment Feferi stood between him and his captain and he had to look at the floor.

"Glub, glub, I'm so, so sorry," Feferi said, reaching for him and then hesitating as he cringed away. Aradia's hand tightened on his arm as if she were afraid he would bolt.

"It'th all right, Mithtrethh," he mumbled.

"I thought you'd just need a little push to remember you wanted to be away from Eridan!" Feferi said. "Oh, Sollux, please don't be scared of me." She made another noise in her throat, an even louder, glubbing sound.

"I'm thorry," he said, inching away, trying to follow Eridan as Gamzee frog-marched him towards the door. "Where are you taking my captain? Pleathe! I have to thtay with him."

"Feferi, I think we need to let him go," Aradia said urgently. Sollux was only distantly aware of the fact that his powers were peaking, sparks jumping around his eyes and over his skin.

"Oh...yes, of course, Aradia," Feferi said. "Maybe it'll be better if it's not so abrupt. Sollux, you can go with Eridan. Come on, let me take you to him, okay?"

"Thank you, Mithtrethh," Sollux said distractedly, and this time as Feferi touched his arm he didn't flinch away. She drew him forward, Aradia trailing behind them.

There were three skimmers outside. A dozen trolls Sollux didn't know were milling about, all of them in the red to green range of the hemospectrum. Eridan was being loaded into the middle one, his hands cuffed behind his back and Gamzee keeping a firm grip on his upper arm. Terezi went to the first, and Sollux could see Karkat standing nearby, watching the proceedings with a glower.

Karkat strode towards them. "What the fuck was that all about, Sollux?" he demanded, overriding Aradia's protests. "Shut up, Aradia. I'm no highblood. He has no reason to be afraid of me."

That was true, though the air of authority around Karkat was pretty intimidating. It was obvious that everyone around him deferred to him, far more than he was used to seeing, and he actually cut a rather dashing figure, in that outfit.

Sollux kept his gaze trained on the grass of the lawnring, biting his lip. "I want to thtay with Eridan," he said simply.

"He's _exploiting_ you," Karkat hissed. "Mr. Imperial Loyalty over there wants nothing better than to kiss the Condesce's bejewelled ass!"

"Then why did he let me come here?" Sollux murmured. "Why'd he let me contact you?"

"You fucking dumbass," Karkat snarled. "He wants to bring all of the Imperial forces down on us. Because he knew we would bring you in!"

Sollux swallowed. "W-why'd you come, then?"

"Because you're my fucking friend," Karkat said, and punched him in the arm. "And because we're hitting fast and hard, and taking that wriggling eel prisoner, instead of letting you come to a location that would immediately be compromised. He never had a chance to contact his cronies, and he never _will_ have that chance."

Sollux rubbed his throbbing arm. He didn't know if Karkat was right. Maybe he was. "Can I thtill thtay with him?" he asked, his heart sinking. Eridan was right about everything. There was no way they'd let him stay with Eridan. They were convinced he was evil, just as Eridan had thought.

Karkat hesitated, and Sollux raised his eyes. "Pleathe, kk," he said. "Jutht let me thtay with him for now."

"Fuck." Karkat turned around and waved a hand, striding towards the first ship. "Do what you fucking want. You're allowed to do that, now."

"You're really sure you want to stay with Eridan?" Feferi asked with concern. Sollux nodded, and she sighed and let him go. "Well, all right. But you know you can come to anyone, if you want. You're not a slave anymore, as of right now, okay?"

"Yeth, Mithtrethh," Sollux said glumly.

Feferi made a distressed noise and looked at Aradia, who shrugged helplessly. Sollux just turned and hurried towards the skimmer where they'd taken Eridan. Maybe if he stayed around Eridan, he could keep him from getting killed long enough to convince their friends that he wasn't as bad as they all thought.

Hopefully, he wouldn't wind up betraying the entire revolution in the process.

Sollux threw himself through the door of the skimmer to find Gamzee grinning at him from the co-pilot's chair, which he'd turned around to face the interior of the vehicle. A rust-blood sat at the controls, and there were a few others Sollux didn't know, bustling about getting themselves strapped in. The engines were already whining and rumbling - Karkat hadn't been kidding about hitting hard and being gone before anyone knew what happened.

Everyone was giving the front, right-hand seat a wide berth, but Sollux only had eyes for its occupant. His captain, his wrists still chained behind his back, and a webbing of straps holding him in his seat. He was sitting slumped in a despondent manner, but his head came up when Sollux entered and purple eyes widened. "Sol!"

"Captain!" Sollux lunged for him, but two gangly arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back.

"There now, you just go and get your motherfuckin' chill on, bro," Gamzee murmured into his ear, and Sollux froze, trembling, as Gamzee settled him in his lap.

"I...I jutht want to--"

"I know, I _motherfucking get it, don't think I don't._ You think you goddamn can't live without that motherfucker croonin' his fishy rhythm in your ear. But it ain't music that's good for you, my brother," Gamzee said softly.

"Wwhat the fuck are you doin' you psycho honkin land-dwweller!" Eridan snarled. "Get your dirty hands off a my fuckin' slavve."

" _You can shut that fuckin' seedflap before I shut it for you,_ honk honk," Gamzee growled, and tightened his grip on Sollux.

For a few moments, the rising rumble of the engines drowned out whatever Eridan was shouting, but Gamzee turned his head to gaze out the window, as if spacing out completely. By the time they levelled out and the engines made talking possible again, Eridan had lapsed once more into a sullen silence, glaring balefully at Gamzee and Sollux.

"Uh, highblood--"

"Shit, man, just call me Gamzee. Ain't we been bros for sweeps? You know I don't really get all these highblood miracles you all seem to think I've got."

Sollux well-remembered distant honking and blood and the agony of burned-out eyes, and knew that was a straight-up motherfucking lie. But he wasn't about to contradict Gamzee, even if he said the moons were white.

"Yeth, Gamthee," he said obediently. "I know you're worried about me, and that my captain'th got to prove himthelf, and things are thort of methhed up right now."

"You've hit that motherfuckin' nail right there on its head, my bro," Gamzee said with feeling.

"Uh, yeah. But anyway, I think he and I would both feel better if you jutht let me thit bethide him, and it'th not becauthe he'th ordered me to. And ff thaid I could thtay with him, tho...pleathe...?" Sollux babbled before he could completely lose his courage, trailing off hopefully.

"I feel ya, bro," Gamzee said, almost gently. "But the thing is, I know if he just whispered the right kind a poison in your ear, you'd blow this miracle flyin' vessel to hell and back and the two of you could just land light as a feather. That brain of yours is a weapon, my brother, and for right now it's one I'd rather have in this motherfucker's hands instead of that motherfucker's."

Sollux opened his mouth to say he wouldn't do that, then hesitated over the question of whether Eridan would really order him to kill a dozen trolls, including Gamzee, just to escape. Then he closed his mouth and sighed, leaning tentatively into Gamzee's chest. There was nothing he could say, and he really wasn't sure that Gamzee was wrong, anyway.

As Gamzee held him close, despite his gangly frame, Sollux could feel the shocking power of his grasp. The idea of forcing Gamzee to let him go was almost unthinkable, but he could feel Eridan's angry, worried look boring into him.

"I'm okay, captain," Sollux said. "I'll make thith up to you, thomehow, I thwear."

"Yeah," Eridan said, looking startled. "It's okay, Sol."

"You got nothing to make up for, the way I see it, my little jaundiced bro," Gamzee put in.

Sollux didn't know what else to say, so he fell silent, watching Eridan out of the corner of his eye and pretending that the long, cool arms around him were his captain's.

======>

Though this wasn't the worst day of Eridan's life - the championship would always and forever be held by the day he killed Feferi, blinded Sollux by accident, destroyed the matriorb, then got sawed in half by Kanaya - it was definitely settling firmly into the shitty top five. Other contenders included the day Feferi dumped him, the day Vriska dumped him, and nearly all 600 hours he'd spent on LOWAA.

He ground his teeth impotently, watching that disgusting, strung out land-dweller pawing up his matesprit like he had some kind of _right_ to be touching his personal property. The number of indignities he'd suffered in the last hour alone at the hands of that indigo-blooded subjugglator wannabe were too numerous to name, and if Eridan were in any kind of amorous mood at the moment he'd be waxing pitch so hard Gamzee's head would spin.

As it was, he just sulked and catalogued the things he would make sure to exact vengeance for later, when he'd proven himself trustworthy and gotten them all off his fucking fins.

When the skimmer landed a couple of hours later, it taxied into a huge underground space. Only then did Gamzee nudge Sollux out of his lap - and why did he have to be practically grinding him into his bulge the whole way, anyway? - and got languidly to his feet. A moment later, Eridan was unstrapped and hauled up by his chained arm.

"You can get on this motherfucker's other side, bro," Gamzee said, startling him. Why would he let Sollux come near when it was clearly his purpose to punish Eridan by keeping him just out of reach?

Which was pretty rich coming from the likes of that psycho clown, just saying. The only reason Gamzee wasn't a pariah like Eridan was because he'd been fortunate enough to land Karkat as a moirail.

Sollux wrapped a thin arm around his elbow and Eridan was so damn grateful for the warm touch he leaned in close and pressed a kiss to his temple. "So fuckin' good," he murmured approvingly.

The slave looked up at him with a hesitant smile, and then Gamzee tugged hard on one fin and Eridan was nearly sent to his knees by the pain.

"No secrets, motherfucker," Gamzee said placidly, and shoved Eridan forward out of the skimmer and across the cave into some kind of underground warren of tunnels.

Sollux said nothing in response to the treatment, but clung hard to his arm. Eyes watering, Eridan tried to memorize the twists and turns, but was quickly disoriented. He thought he was in some kind of residential wing, but then suddenly they went through a door into a larger room filled with chairs, like some kind of common area.

A soft noise sounded in Sollux' throat, just an instant before Eridan realized they weren't alone in the room.

Vriska unfolded herself from a chair and turned to face them, a smirk on her blue lips. An instant later, Tavros stood up as well. In sharp contrast to the last time they'd seen them, Tavros looked neither mind-controlled, nor drugged. He had a necklace around his neck with two large stones - both sapphires, but in different shades of blue and indigo - instead of a collar. And he grinned hesitantly when he saw them.

"Vvris? What the fuck are you doin' here?" Eridan demanded, utterly confused. Despite the changes, he still wasn't all that interested in the orange-blooded slave, but kept his focus on Vriska.

Vriska snorted. "You really are stuuuuuuuupid, Eridan! I'm in the rebellion, of course."

Gamzee let go of Eridan and sloped past him, meeting Tavros halfway. Tavros threw his arms around Gamzee's neck and they kissed sweetly, then Gamzee dropped himself into a chair and Tavros continued towards them.

"But..." Eridan was gaping like a landed fish. "You're Tavv's owwner. He wwas all fucked up!"

"It wath a tetht," Sollux said wonderingly. "Tavroth wath only pretending to be a thlave to thee how you'd react."

"Pissblood's pretty smart~" Vriska trilled. "I wasn't expecting to find Sollux there, I'll admit. My job was to feel you out, and if you seemed open to it, to recruit you. And once I saw the situation, I kept tabs on you, followed you all the way to Alternia so that we could pick you up once you got here."

"A fuckin' test?" Eridan said in a strangled voice. His heart dropped into his toes. How bad must he have looked, proudly sporting a brand new slave, easily bantering with Vriska over the heads of two poor, dominated lowbloods as if nothing was wrong. He'd even said the rebellion was a threat and that he'd never support it.

But really now. Come on.

"You fuckin' set me up!" he snapped, fins flaring angrily. "I thought you wworked for the fuckin' Empire. Wwhat else wwas I supposed to say?"

Vriska put her hands on her hips and tossed her head. "Are you saying you lied? That you believe we should eradicate the hemospectrum and that lowbloods and highbloods are equal?"

"That's a fuckin' ridiculous concept," Eridan snapped, then bit his lip. Well. It was.

Tavros took Sollux' arm and gently pulled. "Sollux," he said. "It's, uh, okay. You don't have to leave your master, but if you want to sit with me for a bit, uh, while they talk, I'd like that very much."

Eridan watched with rising anxiety, wanting to order Sollux to stay by his side, and knowing how that would look. Sollux looked at him nervously, then went with Tavros, moving away to sit on a sofa separate from the highbloods.

Why did they all insist on treating him like a horrible person, when they just kept misinterpreting everything he did and blowing it all out of proportion? Sure he'd made mistakes in the past. But what did they expect him to do? He was successful in the military, but that didn't make him a horrible person. He was a sea dweller, but that didn't automatically make him their enemy. Look at Feferi!

Vriska was right in front of him now, looking him over with narrowed eyes. He felt like her vision eight-fold was looking right through him. "You didn't lie," she said. "You said what you believe. But who knows? Maybe we can change your mind. Or maybe we'll just kill you."

She laughed as he tensed visibly, his eyes darting over to Sollux. "You can't kill me. He'll go fuckin' ballistic, don't think he won't!" he hissed to Vriska. "I fuckin' rescued him, Vvris. I'vve treated him wwell, and I don't deservve this treatment. You'vve got to help me!"

"We'll see," she purred. "But for now, come on. I'll get you out of those cold, nasty cuffs."

"...Really?"

She leaned closer. "And into a nice warm cell."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? UNPOSSIBLE. Uh. Don't expect this pace to continue, folks, but I'm enjoying the ride right now.

Sollux sat down with Tavros at the far end of the room. For the first time since the troops had invaded their hive, he felt reasonably calm and collected. Tavros was lower blood than he was, not a threat, and had probably been through the same training he had.

"What'th going on, tv?" he asked hesitantly. Tavros held his hand as they walked and didn't let it go when they sat down, his fingers strong and comforting. "Are you a thlave or what?"

"Oh yes," Tavros said earnestly, then flushed a bit. "I mean, I was. But, uh, Gamzee and Vriska have been helping me. It was Vriska who, uh, found me, and bought me, and brought me here." He fingered the gemstones hanging from his throat, and Sollux saw that the lighter one was in the shape of a spade, while the darker was a heart.

A quadrant necklace. Not exactly in style these days, but Sollux could see how something like that might be reassuring. "Vrithka'th your kithmethith, and Gamthee'th your matethprit?" he asked.

"Uhhh, yeah," Tavros said modestly, ducking his head. His wings fluttered a little, then flattened. "I'm not, uh, a very good kismesis. But Vriska says, she doesn't mind. And I guess all three of us, uhhh, sort of just do things together, and it's okay."

"Wow." Sollux said, blinking. Well, whatever worked, he supposed.

"I'm really sorry," Tavros said suddenly, squeezing Sollux' hand. "Vriska and I came up, with that plan, to see if Eridan was, uh, maybe a good choice to recruit. We thought, since he has a ship, and everything, and is in the military, that he could be a really good ally."

"But Eridan ith Eridan," Sollux said wryly. "He believeth in the hemothpectrum."

"Yeah," Tavros said morosely. "Uh...and I didn't expect you to be there. So I guess we scared you, pretty badly. Vriska had to mind control me, um, because otherwise I think I might have, uh, hurt your former master."

Sollux swallowed hard, feeling a chill. "She really mind-controlled you?"

He nodded. "It's...the first time. Ever," he murmured awkwardly. "Not since we were kids, anyway. She's been, a lot nicer to me, uh, especially since I was trained. And she's been trying to, use her powers to help me throw off the conditioning, too."

Sollux sat up a little, interested. "Ith it working?"

"...Not very well," Tavros admitted. "But maybe it'll work better, uh, for you."

That made Sollux stiffen up hard and he looked around as if Vriska might be coming for him right now. "I don't think I'm comfortable with--where'th my captain?"

He jumped to his feet. He and Tavros were now alone in the room, and Gamzee, Vriska and Eridan were gone.

"Sollux--"

"Where'th Eridan!?" Sollux exclaimed, a little too loudly. They'd taken him to be executed, he was certain of it. He had to do something.

" _Sollux!_ " Tavros cut in, energetic though his tone was still somewhat hesitant. "It's, okay. They took him to a room, where he won't be able to do anything bad, that's all."

"They're going to kill him!" Sollux said, striding towards a door. He had no idea if he was going in the right direction, but he couldn't keep still. "They keep thaying they might."

"They're not, uh, going to kill him. At least, I'm pretty sure, they won't do something like that, until they're sure that it's the right, uh, thing to do," Tavros said helplessly, trailing in his wake. "Uh, I'm not sure you should be going anywhere right now--"

Sollux threw open a door and stopped short. There was a long hallway ahead of him, lined by many doors. Vriska was in the hall, walking towards him, and she smiled at the sight of him. "Ah, I was just coming to get you two. The fish is all locked up tight."

"Where'th Eridan?" Sollux said, ruining his attempt to sound firm by training his gaze on the floor and hugging himself tightly.

"I'll tell you later," Vriska said, about-facing and striding away down the hall, her bootheels clicking loudly on the stone. "Follow me, Sollux, there's a good boy."

Sollux followed almost on autopilot, though he looked from side to side, wishing his powers would allow him to sense whether Eridan was behind any of these doors. Tavros walked beside him, casting him worried glances.

"Uh...Vriska?"

"Yes, Pupa?" she asked, not looking back.

"I don't think it's, a very good idea, to be ordering Sollux around very much, uh, right now? Because he needs to, uh, remember that he doesn't need to listen to orders, anymore," Tavros said deferentially. "At least, that's what I think."

"Normally, I'd agree with you," Vriska said, glancing back seriously. "But he's acting pretty upset. And I think we need to get him stabilized and calmed down, hopefully before he blows up this entire base."

"I'm not going to blow up the bathe," Sollux protested, anger rising inside him, though it was threaded through with terror at the fact that he was talking back to a blue blood. "I jutht want to be with my captain, tho you can't kill him. Why ith everyone tho fucking focuthhed on keeping me from him?"

Vriska just sighed at him. "Because you're being a wriggler. And because he's a treacherous eel, and believe me, I _know_ treachery! So we just need to be sure everything is under control before we let you go back to him, okay, Sollux?"

"You're not going to let me go back to him at all!" Sollux exclaimed, following Vriska through a doorway. "You're lying! You're all fucking lying, and I don't know why my thuppothed _friendth_ are treating me like I'm jutht a bomb that'th ten thecondth from going off!"

"For fuck's sake, Sollux, if you don't calm down and stop saying ridiculous shit, I'm going to take a flying acrobatic pirouette right off the handle, and no one wants to see that!"

Sollux looked up and stiffened. They had walked into a different room, a sort of sitting room with chairs arranged in a circle. Karkat and Feferi sat facing him.

Karkat was the one who'd spoken, and was now glaring daggers at him, though Sollux could see the worry lurking behind the anger in his crimson eyes.

"It'th not ridiculouth," Sollux said defensively, though he trained his eyes on the floor again. "You think Eridan ith hurting me, and he'th not. Tho what if he doethn't want to join your thtupid rebellion. Right now _I'm_ regretting wanting to join."

Karkat sighed with irritation. "Vriska. Tavros. Get the fuck out. Feferi - you do your thing, and then get out, too. I need to talk to my best fucking friend alone."

Sollux looked up just enough to watch Vriska grab Tavros' hand and haul him from the room. Tavros looked back worriedly, but followed obediently, and soon the door closed behind them.

Feferi cleared her throat. "Glub, Karcrab, are you really, really shore? I don't want to make another mistake."

"We don't have much choice, at this point," Karkat said in a grunt. "The security of the entire rebellion is more important than any one troll."

Sollux didn't like this, and took a step back, feeling his hands begin to tremble. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm just going to give you a really glubbing important order," Feferi said gently. "Come here, Sollux. Please?"

Sollux hesitated, but his feet began to move almost on their own. He stepped closer and knelt at her feet, shivering. An order? If it were any other day, and the mood weren't so ominous, he would trust that Feferi wouldn't do anything to hurt him. But her uncertainty didn't make him feel secure in the least.

Her hands came out and cupped his cheeks. Her rings and fingers were cool against his skin as she turned his face up towards him. She no longer wore goggles, and her eyes were tyrian bright, two rings of purple iris like amethysts set in amber, with onyx pupils in the middle.

He couldn't look away.

"Sollux," she said solemnly. "My order is this. You can do whatever you glubbing want to do, no matter what anyone says. But you will not do anything that can cause harm to one of our friends, or to the security of the rebellion. If Eridan gives you an order like that, or if for any reason you feel like you want to do something like that, even if no one's ordered you to do it, you will come to me and tell me right away, no matter what."

"Y-yeth Mithtrethh..." Sollux felt his eyes growing wide. "You think I'm a thleeper agent?" he whispered.

"We can't rule it out," Karkat said quietly.

"I'm not a thleeper agent!" Sollux protested. Feferi withdrew her hands and he looked at Karkat entreatingly. "No one told me I should come here. Vrithka wath the one who brought it up, and I athked Eridan to let me come. And I've only been with Eridan for a few dayth."

"Sollux," Feferi sighed. "It doesn't really matter. This way we can be sure that, no matter what happens, none of us have to worry. Even _you_ don't need to worry that someone will take advantage of your conditioning. At least, until that conditioning is broken, which we're going to help you do!"

That was somewhat reassuring, but it still felt shitty, and brought home to him just how screwed up he was. He sat back, drawing his knees up towards his chest. "Okay, tho I'm no danger to you. Can I go back to Eridan, now?"

Feferi rose to her feet. "I need to go talk to him, first."

"And I need to talk to you, Captor," Karkat growled. "So you're not going anywhere for now. Got a problem with that?"

Sollux hesitated, unsure for a second whether he was really being asked for his opinion for once. Then he dropped his gaze and shook his head.

Without another word, Feferi swept from the room, regal and seemingly unruffled, though Sollux swore he heard a soft gasp like a sob just before the door closed.

He swallowed. Was Feferi really crying about him? He didn't know how he felt about that.

"You want to come up and sit next to me?" Karkat asked quietly, after a moment.

Sollux hesitated, then unwound himself and got up, seating himself in the chair Feferi had just vacated. "Thith ith turning out to be a really shitty day," he said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I know you're jutht trying to help, kk, but it feelth really bad."

"Yeah, I know," Karkat said. Sollux could feel his eyes on him. "I'm sorry."

Blinking, Sollux looked up in surprise. "You're thorry?"

Karkat looked rather defensive. "Yeah, you can't believe I would apologize when I just clearly nearly sent my best friend around the bend? You think I _like_ freaking you out? I know you think I can't understand why you're clinging like fuck to that asshole's fins, but I've been through this already with Tavros, all right? I _know_ what is going on. And I'm sorry for the hell I've just put you through."

Sollux' jaw was on the floor, and he slowly closed his mouth, nodding. "You don't underthtand completely, kk, but thankth."

"Then educate me," Karkat said, eyes narrowing. "What do you think is going on with Eridan?"

This was his opportunity. The only trouble was, he was sure Karkat wouldn't believe him, any more than he believed Eridan. He sighed and rubbed his forehead with two fingers. "Eridan'th flushed for me."

"What."

It wasn't even really a question. Karkat was so completely taken aback, he said the word in a flat monotone.

"I know," Sollux said wryly.

"You _believe_ he's flushed for you? Or did he just say that to fuck with your head?"

Sollux shrugged. "I believe he believeth he'th flushed for me. Whether he wath flushed before the moment he thaw me in the thchoolfeeding block, I don't know. But he'th convinthed now, I think."

"He _blinded_ you!"

"I know," Sollux said, shaking his head. "He thayth he knew he'd never get anywhere with me in a red quadrant back then, tho he went with black in the hopeth I'd get to know him better, later and flip to red."

"He's a fucking idiot."

"Yeah." Sollux said, his lips crooking slightly.

Karkat sat back, raking a hand through his hair. "Do you pity him?"

That was a harder question. Sollux bit his lip. "Yeah, I do..."

"Captor," Karkat said warningly. "If you don't pity him, stringing him along is the stupidest fucking thing you could possibly do, considering how vulnerable you are right now. You don't _have_ to give in to his shit, now, or toady up to him to protect yourself. You honestly never have to see him again, ever, if you don't want to."

"I know," Sollux said, and drew in a breath, letting it out in a rush. "I _know_. Can I think about it and get back to you? I don't want to thay I do, _becauthe_ I know that I might be feeling thith way jutht becauthe I've been tho thcrewed up. But he'th tho fucking thcrewed up and lonely himthelf that it'th hard for me not to feel thorry for him. And on top of that, he'th been pretty nithe, for Eridan."

"'For Eridan'?" Karkat echoed warningly.

"Really," Sollux said with a sigh. "He'th an arrogant fuck, and doethn't really get how what he doeth can affect other people. I won't thay it'th been wine and rotheth all the time. But he theemth honethtly to be _trying_ not to actively fuck me up more than I already am."

Karkat groaned softly. "Of course. He couldn't just be acting like an evil asshole, so I could cull him without a guilty conscience. Only like about fifty-percent of an evil asshole. And you probably still don't want me to kill him, right?"

"No," Sollux said softly, staring at the floor.

"Why not? If hypothetically I really wanted to kill Eridan - which I won't say wouldn't give me some satisfaction, even if I do actually have better things to do with my time - what are the reasons I shouldn't?" Karkat growled.

Sollux drew in a breath and let it out. "Becauthe it'th my fault that he'th here at all," he said. "He could have thaid no, and I wouldn't even have argued with him, but inthtead he brought me all the way here, becauthe he wanted to make me happy. And who knowth, maybe we can really convinthe him to join the cauthe."

"You really think that's possible?" Karkat asked quietly. "He probably just brought you here because he wanted to get you to like him more, not because he really wants you to be happy."

"Maybe," Sollux conceded.

"And setting your fucked up love life aside, how the _hell_ do you think we can convince someone like Eridan that he wants to get rid of the hemospectrum? He's as married to it as Equius, and we haven't been able to convince that pile of hoofbeast shit to sign on with us, either!"

Sollux looked up, frowning. "You convinthed Vrithka."

"She was pissed off about Tavros," Karkat said, eyes narrowing. "That's really all it is. Revenge for fucking with her kismesis and turning him into even more of a pathetic pile of goo than he already was to start with."

Sollux' heart sank. Yeah, he could see that. "Well Eridan might come around," he said with uncertain optimism. "I can definitely try."

"Wow," Karkat said wryly. "That's a rallying cry if I've ever heard one. You're really determined not to take my advice and pretend he fell into a deep dark hole, then?"

"I...know it'th probably thmart," Sollux said. "But I don't think running away ith really what I need to do." He glanced up. "I'm not afraid of Eridan, kk. And maybe thith matethprit thing can really be a thing. I know I need time to figure mythelf out, but I can altho help you at the thame time. If I can win Eridan over, you'll have a ship."

Karkat scowled with sudden ferocity. "Who said anything about wanting a ship?"

"...Tavroth."

"That bulgelicking idiot," Karkat growled.

"You need a ship, don't you?" Sollux pressed quietly. "You can't get off of Alternia without one. Without that, your revolution ith dead in the water. You _need_ Eridan on your thide, kk. And I'm the only one, probably, who can convinthe him."

"You and Feferi," Karkat said, eyes narrowed. "Not to mention he would probably listen to Vriska. I don't need _you_ to do this, Sollux."

"But I want to." Sollux drew in a breath. "I really want to."

Karkat bit his lip. "You are such a fucking asshole," he said, then reached out and dragged Sollux into a tight embrace. "Are you trying to kill me with an overload of stress? You don't have to do _everything_. You can take some time to get your head on straight!"

"I know," Sollux said. Tentatively, he reached out and hugged Karkat back, a little stunned by the gesture. "But I'll be okay."

"You'd better be, you nookbiter," Karkat growled into his shoulder.

"You're going to let me do it?" Sollux asked tentatively.

"Idiot," Karkat said with feeling. "You can do whatever you want, remember?"

Sollux shook his head. "You know that'th not really true. You theem to be getting pretty good at ordering everyone around."

"Shut up," Karkat growled, and straightened up. "I'll take you to your lovers suite, now. Unless you change your mind. There's a room made up for you, with a bifurcated 'coon and everything. And a husktop. Just like home!"

"Tempting," Sollux said honestly, getting to his feet. "I'll enjoy it after I've gotten you your ship, and figured out my head, and generally thaved my captain'th life."

"He's not your fucking captain," Karkat growled, jumping up and striding towards the door. "I wish you wouldn't call him that."

"Thorry," Sollux said quietly. _But he is._


	7. Chapter 7

Eridan didn't bother to shout for help as Gamzee and Vriska pulled him out of the common room and down a hall. Sollux seemed fine with talking to the other slave, even though Eridan needed him so badly, and he just didn't know how to make Sollux come with him without making himself look like exactly the sort of person they thought he was. They all seemed determined to keep them apart, anyway.

Vriska opened a door about halfway down the hall, and Gamzee unlocked his cuffs. Rubbing his abused wrists, Eridan didn't even look to see what kind of dank, horrible prison they'd prepared for him, turning to the blue and making one last entreaty. "Come on, Vvris. This is so completely fuckin' unnecessary."

"Tell that to the Princess," Vriska said, rolling her eyes. "Really, Eridan, it's not my call."

And then, before he could protest any further, Gamzee shoved him through the door and it slammed shut, leaving him in...a rather nicely appointed, if spartan, respite block. Eridan looked around suspiciously, but other than the bare stone on the floor, it in no way resembled a jail cell. There was a recuperacoon in the corner, and a couple of chairs.

There wasn't really anything to _do_ , but there wasn't a single torture device anywhere.

Uncertain, Eridan prowled around the room and checked everywhere, but there wasn't so much as a hidden camera. At least, not one he could find.

What kind of lame, half-assed operation was Karkat running here, anyway?

Finally he threw himself into a chair, preparing to have a good, long think. If he couldn't get out by convincing his former cronies to let him go - Vriska was being extremely uncooperative on that front, so far - then he had to figure out another strategy.

Only a few minutes had passed, though, before the door unlocked and opened once again. His heart immediately started beating quickly. Was it Gamzee or Terezi, looking to make his life even more miserable than it already was? He looked up, schooling his features into an arrogant expression, as if whoever it was had disturbed a prince in his chambers, instead of a prisoner in his cell.

But the figure who slipped through the door wasn't Terezi or Gamzee. It was Feferi, and she was doing something strange, wiping her eyes as if to dash away tears.

Yes, she _was_ crying. Her eyes glittered with the moisture as she looked up at him, and Eridan felt his mouth go dry.

"Fef! Wwhat's wwrong?" He might have been a horrible moirail to her when they were kids, but that didn't mean he didn't care about her. He jumped to his feet and crossed the room towards her, but the moment he touched her arm, she smacked his hand away.

"Don't!"

He swallowed, a glubbing sound in his throat. "Wwhat..."

She drew in a breath and straightened, looking up at him. "We need to talk, you big carping glub."

Oh fuck. Not her, too. "Look, Fef, you'vve all got it all wwrong! Wwhatevver it is you think, it's just not true. And wwhy are you cryin' anywway?"

"Ohhhh, really?" Feferi's eyes flashed, despite the moisture glistening on her lashes. "So you haven't been treating Sollux like a slave at all? And if you're on our side, why didn't you contact us yourself, ages ago? Which parts am I wrong about, exactly?"

"Uh." He took a step back, a little overwhelmed by her accusations. "Fef, just calm dowwn, okay? Yeah, I wwas treating Sol like a slavve a little, but only because he needed it. You don't get howw fuckin' messed up he is, and I told him he could talk back to me and say and do wwhatevver he wwanted. I wwasn't gonna force him to do anyfin he didn't wwant to do! And didn't I bring him here, evven though I _kneww_ you all wwould treat me like I'm fuckin' evvil? I kneww this wwould fuckin' happen, and it's totally not fair at all!"

Feferi was silent for a few seconds after Eridan ran out of words, searching his expression with sharp eyes. Then she looped her arm around his elbow and led him back towards the pair of chairs where he'd been sitting before. She sat down in one, releasing him, and he sat in the other.

"Eridan," she said solemnly, gazing down at her folded hands in her lap. She looked so painfully beautiful, glittering with jewels, like the Empress Herself. "I hear what you're saying, but it doesn't change anything. I came here to tell you one thing, and what happens after that is really up to you."

"Glub," Eridan said nervously. "Wwhat?"

She looked up at him. "It's time for you to wake up, Eridan, and think about what's really important to you. It's time for you to decide what it is that you think is worth dying for."

"Wwhat's wworth dyin' for?" Eridan echoed, feeling his fins snap tight against his head with fear. "You _are_ gonna fuckin' kill me! Wwhy havve you got a go that far, Fef? Because I'm in the fuckin' military? Because I wwas the one to find Sol and get him to safety - at personal peril - and not you and Kar? Is this some kind a jealousy thing? Is that wwhy?"

"You _never_ listen!" Feferi snapped in exasperation. She jumped to her feet, striding away from him with fists clenched. "I've said what I needed to say. Just think a-boat what I said, and moray-be you can make a decision. I don't want to kill you, you stupid, sea-weed head! But maybe I don't have to, if you can just _listen_ to me for one glubbing second!"

The door slammed and locked behind her, before Eridan had a chance to gather his thoughts enough to respond.

"You mean, you might not kill me?" he asked the empty air. "Wwell then tell me wwhat I havve to glubbin' wwell do!"

But the empty room had no answers for him.

======>

Karkat told Sollux how to get to where Eridan was being held, and sent him on his way. Sollux felt strange just walking down the hall alone and unattended, after so long of being pushed and pulled this way and that. But it was a good feeling, and gave him some time to think, even though the distance wasn't very far.

In fact, no more than a few minutes passed before he turned a corner and saw two burly trolls flanking a door. There was no question he was in the right place.

But just as he walked up to the door, it opened quickly and Feferi popped through it like a cork from a bottle. He stopped dead, heart suddenly speeding up, but before he could lower his gaze, Feferi looked up and met his eyes.

"Oh, Sollux," she said, covering her mouth. "Are you coming to see Eridan?"

He swallowed. "Yeth, Mithtrethh." He started to drop his gaze, but she reached him and touched his cheek, drawing his eyes back up to hers.

"It's all right, Sollux," she said gently. "Please, I know it's hard, but I can't stand to see you this way. Just look at me, please? I'll never hurt you, I swear."

He drew in a breath and let it out. "It'th hard," he agreed awkwardly, but he kept his eyes up. Her eyes glimmered with tears again and he reached out nervously, touching her own cheek. "I'm tho thorry, ff."

She swallowed visibly, glubbing again. "Don't be sorry, silly," she said. "You haven't done a single thing wrong."

He nodded uncertainly, though he really couldn't agree.

She dropped her hand, releasing him, and he quickly did the same. "Will you do me a favour?"

Blinking in surprise, he nodded. "Of courthe."

Feferi looked away, back towards the door. "I do want Eridan to join us... but I want him to do it because he wants to, not because it's something he's doing to save his life. Will you help me?"

Sollux hesitated, working through it in his mind. "You don't want me to tell him you want hith ship, right? You want him to offer it to you, tho you know it'th thinthere."

She smiled, the expression a little brittle. "I'm not going to order you, Sollux."

He nodded. "It'th okay. I want to know, too." He swallowed. "I'll do it."

She cupped his cheek again and then impulsively hugged him. "Thank you, Sollux."

Warmed, Sollux hugged her back. Soon, she released him and hurried on her way, and he continued towards the door. The two brown-bloods, each as large as Tavros, eyed him for a moment before moving aside. One of them turned and unlocked the door. "Knock if you want out," she murmured, and Sollux nodded.

"And shout if you need help," the other one said.

"I won't," Sollux said, then stepped inside. They held the door open for him, then locked it behind him.

Eridan was sitting in a chair, chin in hand and fins quivering with stress, but he looked up as the door opened, and he jumped up when Sollux entered. Sollux hesitated for a moment, but Eridan darted towards him and hugged him tightly.

"Glub. I thought I wwasn't going to fuckin' see you again!"

Sollux sighed and settled into the embrace, winding his arms around Eridan in return. Despite the fact that Eridan's skin was cool to his touch, the embrace was warm and comforting. His captain wasn't mad at him for all of this, which was more than he felt he deserved.

"I'm thorry, captain," he murmured. "Thith ith all my fault. I shouldn't have made you bring me here. You were totally right about how they'd act."

Eridan grunted softly. "Yeah, wwell, I could a said no, and I didn't. So it's as much my mistake as yours. Besides, I think you pretty much belong here, so it's right from that perspective." He looked up, meeting Sollux' gaze and searching his expression, eyes narrowing. "So wwhy'd they really send you in here?"

"What?" Sollux blinked. "I athked them to let me come thee you."

"Come on, Sol!" Eridan exclaimed, drawing back enough to release him. "Fef gavve you some commands, right?"

"Yeah, but--"

Eridan pinned him with a glare. "So wwhat are they? I knoww they probably told you not to fuckin' tell me, but Fef's not your captain, _I_ am. You tell me right the fuck noww wwhat they're usin' you for!"

Sollux tensed, cringing a little at Eridan's tone. "It...it'th not what you think."

"Tell me!"

The words rang in the room, probably loud enough for the trolls outside to hear. Sollux was breathing very hard and fast, his heart beating wildly. "S-she thaid I can't harm the rebellion, and if I want to do anything that might betray them, or if you order me to do anything like that, that I had to tell kk or ff." At Eridan's doubtful look, he grabbed his captain's sleeve and clung. "That'th the only order she'th given me, I thwear!"

With an effort, he suppressed the little voice that told him that Feferi had told him something else, and it related to Eridan. That wasn't an order, though. He didn't have to tell Eridan about that, and in fact it was in Eridan's best interest if he kept silent. If Eridan didn't join the rebellion, of his own free will, Sollux was pretty sure Karkat really would kill him.

Eridan eyed him for a moment, then swore softly and tugged Sollux close again, rubbing at the base of one of his horns, which made his knees go weak. "Fuck... I shouldn't a done that. It's all a this stress and bein' knocked about and locked up like I'm some kinda criminal. It's gettin' to me."

"It'th okay, captain," Sollux said, tucking his head in against Eridan's shoulder, the trembling and near-panic starting to subside.

"Let's just take a breather," Eridan said with a sigh, and drew Sollux over to the chair where he'd been sitting. Sollux almost knelt, but Eridan dragged him into his lap and he cuddled in close.

"If they'd told me to do thomething to you, I'd tell you," Sollux said quietly. "I'm broken, but I don't want to hurt you. I don't think they could forthe me to. But I don't think they _want_ to forthe me to, either. They want you to prove yourthelf, jutht like you thaid."

"Yeah, the question is _howw_. They locked me in here and havven't givven me one bit a guidance on that score," Eridan growled, petting Sollux' hair.

"I...I don't know, captain," Sollux lied helplessly.

It was hard. He could think of a dozen hints he could drop. Whether or not Eridan actually took the advice was a completely different story, but he probably would, if only to get out of a cell and off Alternia again. Once Eridan was off-world, though, he could just as easily double-cross the rebellion. There wouldn't be much Karkat could do to ensure their security if he trusted Eridan to be their mole in the troll military, and he chose to betray them.

Abruptly, Sollux realized something else. He _couldn't_ tell Eridan to join. Not and follow Feferi's earlier command. Any hint that pretending to join the rebellion would ensure his freedom, particularly if he offered them something as valuable as a ship of the line, and it could lead directly to Eridan's betrayal, and therefore the fall of the rebellion.

Instead, he had to truly swing Eridan over to their side, philosophically. If he believed in the cause, maybe he could be trusted.

How the _fuck_ was he going to do that?

Before he could even begin, though, Eridan spoke up. "I wwonder howw many troops and equipment they'vve got. You seen anythin' useful, Sol?"

Sollux frowned. "I haven't theen more than you have. Jutht the thkimmerth and a few corridorth."

Eridan settled back, running his hand down Sollux' back. "Kar's taken up the mantle of the Sufferer. That much is obvvious, even if I didn't already knoww that from the intelligence I picked up. That means he'll havve a lot a lowwblood support. Situated on Alternia, he can get them wwhile they're young, turn them into fanatics. Evven if most of them leavve after final pupation, he could have followwers all over the galaxy by noww."

"Uh, yeah," Sollux said slowly, wondering nervously where Eridan was going with this.

"And wwith Fef wworkin' wwith him, he givves his cause legitimacy wwithin the system. He can get highblood supporters that wway, too. Malcontents wwho don't much like howw things are under Her Imperial Condescension, at the least. People like Vvris and Gam might join, evven people wwho are their blood, but wwho aren't already friends with Kar."

"The goal ith to put ff on the throne, I guethh," Sollux said cautiously.

"Naturally," Eridan sniffed. "Wway easier to get powwer through the normal channels, instead a holdin' a revvolution from the ground up and tryin' to ovverthroww the entire fuckin' govvernment, against all a the might of the Imperial Army, like the Summoner tried to do."

"Who?"

Eridan gave him a look. "You're so fuckin' uneducated. I can't evven believve you just asked me that."

"Thorry."

Despite that, Eridan seemed scarcely to notice Sollux' interjections, lost in his own thoughts. "The question is, howw likely are they to succeed?"

"Ith that the quethtion?" Sollux prodded tentatively. Wasn't the question whether Eridan _wanted_ them to succeed? He seemed so focused on the issue of probability of success - or did he simply want to learn about their capabilities so he could give the information to the Condesce when he escaped?

He didn't seem to hear him. Instead of answering, Eridan nudged Sollux to his feet, then got up himself and walked to the door. He knocked, and the door swung open a moment later, but the instant the guard saw it was Eridan at the door instead of Sollux, she brought up her sickle to point at his throat.

An aspiring threshecutioner, then. Sollux had to physically restrain himself from intervening, feeling sparks dance between his horns as he struggled with his instinct to protect his master from harm.

Eridan, on the other hand, just raised his chin and looked down on the lowbloods as if they were nothing more than a muddy puddle, and he was considering how best to cross without getting his shoes dirty.

"I'm ready to talk to Karkat Vvantas, noww," he said airily, as if instructing a servant drone to perform a simple task. "Bring him to me."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! I was moving and then threw my back out and was bed-ridden for over a week. I also needed to get over a bit of writer's block about the end of the story, but I'm back on the horse and expect to get it done quickly.
> 
> For those chomping at the bit for some of my other multi-chapter fics, I haven't forgotten about them. I just want to get this done while it's fresh.
> 
> And to all my readers, thank you so much for all of your comments and kudos. Each one is unbelievably precious to me. <3!

The lowbloods exchanged glances and then shut the door in Eridan's face.

Eridan responded to this with predictable irritation, hammering on the door and yelling, and Sollux quickly moved to his captain to try to calm him down.

He threw his arms around Eridan's neck and nuzzled at his throat. "Maybe they went to get him," he murmured, and Eridan subsided with a snarl.

"Stupid shitbloods are probably too thick-headed to evven figure out wwhat I said."

"Don't...thay that, pleathe," Sollux said hesitantly, and Eridan turned to give him a reassuring kiss, dragging him back to the chair once more.

He was rather amazed at his own audacity. What did he expect, but that Eridan would treat people like crap because of their blood? But it made him uncomfortable to see him doing it. Especially since he now believed Eridan was better than that. Or could be.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Someday.

To Sollux' surprise, the door opened only a few minutes later and Karkat strode through it. Gamzee sloped in afterwards, standing at Karkat's shoulder like a bodyguard, though he was so skinny the comparison seemed ridiculous at face value.

Gamzee grinned at them. Sollux wasn't sure if the expression was meant to reassure him, or to terrify Eridan. He could feel Eridan tense up, but he wasn't sure if it was fear of Gamzee or just that he was preparing for some kind of confrontation.

"For fuck's sake, Sollux," Karkat said as the door closed behind him. "If the pair of you have to be the two most co-dependent losers on Alternia, can you at least get a room of your own to do it in? I've got better things to do than watch you sitting on Eridan's bulge, like heaving the contents of my stomach into the nearest load gaper - which I might do anyway."

Sollux jumped up, blushing. "Uh..."

"Don't apologize," Karkat said warningly. Confused, Sollux just sat down in the other chair and hunched his shoulders, instead.

Eridan growled in the back of his throat. "I'm sick and tired a you abusing my property, you mutated freak."

Karkat smirked, and Eridan seemed to realize what he'd said. He cursed under his breath and patted Sollux' hand.

Sollux just closed his eyes momentarily and hoped Eridan would stop letting Karkat get under his skin, and just do whatever it was he intended to do. He had to have some reason for calling Karkat to his room, besides making a fool of himself.

"Glad to see you haven't decided to stop telling us how you really feel, fish-breath," Karkat returned, folding his arms. "So you called me. What do you want to waste my time with, now?"

Eridan got to his feet. He seemed to have gathered his poise again, and rose regally, filling out his uniform with presence. Only the trembling state of his fins, the way they were pressed tight over his gills, betrayed his nervousness.

"I wwant to offer you my expertise, as a student a history and wwar, and a fuckin' captain in an actual military," he said. "Rather than a wwriggler wwith both thumbs jammed so far up his nook he keeps scrapin' his larynx, wwho's got delusions of grandeur. That'd be you, by the wway."

"Not interested," Karkat said, and whirled around in a rather dramatic swirl of cape to leave.

"Wwait!"

Karkat stopped and glanced back. Sollux could see just the barest upwards curve of his lip from where he was sitting. How much was Karkat just playing with Eridan to see him squirm on a hook? What chance did Eridan really have?

Eridan took two steps forward. "Kar, come on. I'm offerin' this to you free of charge. Not in exchange for releasin' me or anyfin like that. You take me to see wwhat you'vve got, and I'll givve you my thoughts. You're fuckin' free to take my advvice or leavve it."

The shorter troll turned back to face Eridan, eyes narrowed. "What's in it for you?"

"Seems to me this motherfucker wants to see just what we've got," Gamzee said, making everyone jump. Sollux had forgotten about him - it seemed _everyone_ had - and he loomed up behind Eridan suddenly to make his opinion known.

Eridan whirled to face him, lips peeling back from his teeth in an obvious challenge. "And wwhat if I do? I'm no danger to any a you so long as I'm locked up in here."

Gamzee's eyes slid to Sollux, who stiffened. "I'm not going to help him ethcape! Even if I wanted to, ff thaid I'm not allowed to."

"Come a time when you might not need to listen to anyone, my brother," Gamzee said placidly, his eyes sliding back to Eridan. "Then you might choose which motherfucker's orders to listen to, or just go ahead and listen to your own heart. Your heart might tell you to break him out, what with you already up and motherfuckin' giving it to him already."

"Yeah, he's my fuckin' matesprit," Eridan said challengingly, taking an aggressive step towards Gamzee, his fins lifting and flushing purple. "But you're dealin' in maybes and probabilities. If Sol decides to break me out a here, that's his choice, but it ain't a choice I'm gonna ask him to make any time in the near future. That has nothin' to do wwith me takin' a look at your capabilities right now."

"Both of you knock it off," Karkat growled. "I'm going to have to throw my few remaining credits into buying stock in pail futures if the three of you keep getting on each other's bulges, and I'm really not interested in watching this caliginous romance blossoming right in front of my eyes."

Eridan looked away first, his fins drooping again as he glanced back towards Karkat. "Wwill you let me see?"

"You still haven't answered to my satisfaction _why_ you want to see it," Karkat said. "What's in it for you, Ampora? Answer that, and I'll consider it."

Eridan licked his lips, eyes darting to Gamzee and then to Karkat again. "I wwant to see if you'vve got any upright chance a wwinning this wwar, wwith or wwithout my support. You wwant me to join you, right? Wwell I'm not joining another losing side, Kar. Not out a nothin' but hypothetical friendship."

Sollux swallowed hard. It made sense - and was Eridan's mindset through and through. But the implication must have been hard for Karkat to hear.

"We didn't lose the game," Karkat snarled, hands clenching into fists.

" _You_ didn't," Eridan replied archly. "But it felt like a fuckin' loss to me, evven if you did prevvail in the end."

"If you join the fight, I can't guarantee your life no matter what!" Karkat exclaimed. "There will be casualties, and one of them could be you. I can't change that, and you know it."

"But I can still see about maximizin' my chances," Eridan returned. "Are you gonna try to recruit me, or not? I can rot in here forevver, and it ain't gonna change my mind. And evven if wwhat I see doesn't convvince me, you'll still benefit from my input. It's wwin, wwin for you, Kar."

"Why does that phrase fill me with dread?" Karkat growled, turning away again. "Let's go."

Sollux jumped to his feet. "Can I come, too?"

" _You_ aren't the prisoner here," Karkat sniped. "You can do whatever you fucking well want. And I'll keep telling you that until you believe it."

Gamzee patted Sollux on the shoulder and then moved to walk beside Eridan as the captain trotted after Karkat. Sollux brought up the rear, and they made a strange diamond-shaped procession as they trooped out of the cell and into the corridor beyond.

======>

The next hours were a blur of corridors, hangars, warehouses, and dormitories. Sollux listened hard as Eridan questioned Karkat in a careful and urgent manner about troops, weapons, and vehicles, and the two of them grew more and more agitated as the evening wore on.

"No seriously, Kar," Eridan snarled, pulling up short outside a window through which they could see five skimmers parked cheek by jowl, being swarmed over by mechanics. "How many have you got? Stop dickin' me around and givve me your numbers. This wwhole tour is a fuckin' wwaste a my time so far."

"And I'm trying to get it through your thinkpan that I don't _know_ ," Karkat exclaimed, throwing up his hands in obvious exasperation. "We get the word out to as many young wrigglers as we can. Some of them go off-world, and recruit elsewhere, while others probably fall off the wagon and enter the system and forget all about us. I've heard reports of groups springing up on Blattodia, Mantodia, and Lepidopterra, and probably there are tonnes more we haven't even heard about. It's hard to get reliable information from Alternia--"

"Yeah, that's fuckin' right," Eridan growled. "Wwhat wwith Alternia bein' the backwwater a nowwhere wwhen it comes to organized adults, no matter that it's a good place to start a revvolution. But that's not wwhat I'm _askin'_ you. Howw many troops can you muster, right noww, in an organized manner, to attack a significant target."

Karkat hesitated, doing some figuring in his head. "A thousand, give or take."

Eridan snorted and folded his arms, looking down his nose at the short, stocky troll. "And howw many a those could you actually _transport_ to your target?"

Karkat shifted from foot to foot. "About half. No, I'm lying. Four hundred, at most, and that'd be with people packed like sardines into the skimmers."

"You knoww as wwell as I do that there isn't one single target wworth attackin' _on Alternia_ ," Eridan sneered. "Wwhat's the real answwer?"

There was a long pause, then Karkat looked away, grinding his teeth audibly. "Zero."

Sollux held his breath. This was the moment, and he hadn't expected it to come so quickly. Eridan had seen the deficiency, and thought he was the only one who had seen it. He had realized that the one thing that Karkat really needed was a ship, a ship big enough to transport a thousand troops to another planet to attack significant, military targets, and really - literally - get their rebellion off the ground. Karkat had weapons, ground vehicles, and fanatical troops.

He needed a ship. An interplanetary vessel just like the one Eridan had.

Eridan looked away as well, staring down at the skimmers and tapping his foot. "You're fuckin' screwwed," he said finally, turning back to them. Sollux saw his shoulders slump. "I'vve got nothin' to givve that'll help you."

Karkat's head came up. "But, _fuck_ , Eridan, you stupid nooksniffer! Are you trying to tell me that you're still not going to join?"

The sea dweller shook his head, eyes narrowed, but darting nervously up towards Gamzee. "There's nothin' I can offer you that'll make this idea vviable. Sorry, Kar. Guess you'd better take me back to my cell."

Gamzee grabbed Eridan by the shoulder, and the sea dweller didn't resist, though he looked towards the skimmers like he was considering escaping on one of them.

"Eridan," Karkat said warningly. "You know what we'll have to do, if you're sure. We can't risk you escaping with everything you've just seen packed into that stupid, fish-rotting brain of yours."

Eridan ducked his head and nodded. He was silent as Gamzee conducted him to his cell, and Karkat just stood there, watching, as he was led away.

Shell-shocked, Sollux trailed behind them, and waited as they were locked inside once more. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about him, but that was all right.

Why hadn't Eridan offered up his ship?

Was he really willing to die rather than give it to the rebellion?

Eridan flopped into his chair again, staring gloomily at a random spot on the wall, and Sollux gazed at him in silence, rooted to the spot. He didn't know what reassurance to offer, and the thought of asking any question, trying to figure out what Eridan was thinking, paralyzed him with the knowledge that he'd likely wind up disobeying Feferi's order.

What the hell was he supposed to do now?


	9. Chapter 9

Eridan didn't say much for the rest of the evening, but that didn't mean Sollux was bored. By the time day dawned, Sollux was in an exhausted stupor, curled in one corner of Eridan's recuperacoon, with a full pail steaming beside them. He didn't know if Eridan ever slept that day, but he was already out and sitting in his chair, brooding over breakfast, when Sollux rose the following dusk.

He washed the sopor off in the ablution trap and dressed, then sat in the chair next to Eridan. He found a tray waiting for him and tore into it hungrily. His stomach seemed to be getting better, and he could eat full meals again. He used to feel full after only a few bites, though he quickly became hungry once more, his stomach so shrunken after years of being fed intravenously.

"Tho, uh," he began uncertainly. He had no idea what he was going to say, but _something_ had to be said. He couldn't just sit by, getting pailed and cuddling Eridan until Karkat and Feferi decided it was time to cull him.

Eridan had eaten about half of his meal. He looked pale and distracted, but he looked up at Sollux' tentative words and glanced at him with a kind of resignation. "Wwhat, Sol?"

Before he could go on, the door suddenly opened and Gamzee strolled in.

Everyone's injuries had disappeared after the game was finished - Sollux' eyes, for example. Tavros had had to have his robot legs reinstalled. But somehow, when Gamzee grinned at Eridan, Sollux could almost see the scars creasing his face.

"Hey, Sollux, my brother," Gamzee murmured, his eyes never wavering from the sea dweller. "I'm finding myself with a few words to say to this motherfucker right here. I think you ought to just take yourself right out of here for a while. Might get a little hot and heavy up in here pretty soon."

Eridan was sitting straight up in his chair, his fins out and quivering and flushing a deep purple.

"Captain..." Sollux asked softly, swallowing hard. He didn't need to leave just because Gamzee told him to. Eridan was the final say.

But Eridan didn't even look at him. He and Gamzee were staring each other down like two predators circling one another over a fresh carcass.

"Go, Sol," Eridan said finally, rising to his feet and wiping his lips with a napkin. "Don't wworry about me."

Gamzee's eyes slid to him for only an instant, and his smile shifted, just a touch. It looked like it was meant to be reassuring, but Sollux didn't want to leave.

"Don't kill him, pleathe!" he blurted out, giving them both a wide berth as he moved reluctantly towards the door.

"Sol!" Eridan snapped, pinning Sollux with a glare. "Havve a little fuckin' faith in me, please."

"Not my intention to cull this motherfucker today, my brother," Gamzee purred.

Chastened, Sollux turned and fled, slamming the door behind him. The last thing he needed right now was to get in between two highbloods in the throes of black romance. If that was, indeed, what was going on in there.

He was pretty sure it was.

Trying his best to ignore the startled presence of the two guards at the door, he turned in the only direction he could think to go, and trotted towards Karkat's respite block. He'd been there before, if only once, and at least there he was pretty sure he would find some welcome, even if it was grudging and loud.

Maybe he could figure out what to _do_ with himself, too. Assuming Eridan didn't get culled, he still had to find something to do other than just hang around in his block and get pailed. Pleasant as that was in some respects.

He reached the door and hesitated, then knocked. At the shouted 'what?' he pushed the door open.

"KK, do you think I could hang out he--"

He stopped, staring, at a sudden flurry of movement in the general direction of Karkat's sofa. Feferi pulled away from Karkat quickly, and Karkat let go of her as if he'd been burned, jumping to his feet. "Fucking hell, Captor, I didn't know it was you!"

Sollux blinked at them a few times, but what he'd just seen was burned like an afterimage into his mind.

"When were you going to tell me, then?" he asked with surprising calm. He wasn't pissed at them for being in the middle of sloppy makeouts when he showed up. He was pissed that apparently they would have continued to keep it on the downlow if they'd known it was him outside the door.

Feferi smoothed her skirt down, then brushed her hair back with quick, darting fingers like little fishes in weeds. "It's not that we were hiding it, Sollux!"

"We were just waiting for the right fucking moment," Karkat growled. "Instead of ramming it down your protein chute, in this incredibly awkward way."

"It'th not like I don't have a matethprit of my own," Sollux said, scowling.

"Of course you do," Feferi said soothingly. She walked towards him quickly, and he flinched a little, turning his glare on Karkat as a safer option as she reached up to touch his shoulder.

Karkat didn't meet his eyes, glaring down at the floor. "It's mostly political," he growled. "I mean, sure, we pity each other. But it _started_ as a political match."

"Because we thought if we were together, it would show a more united front," Feferi said with a hesitant smile, trying unsuccessfully to catch Sollux' eye. "Since the two of us appeal to really different sorts of trolls, even though we've got the same political agenda."

Sollux couldn't believe they were even trying to explain this to him. "Why are you acting like I'm going to be jealouth?" he exploded, jerking out of Feferi's hold and taking two steps towards Karkat. "I. Have. A. Matethprit."

"Yeah, of course you do," Karkat said with a roll of his eyes that he couldn't quite suppress.

Sollux' back prickled with Feferi behind him, but he was far too angry to care right now. "You don't think it'th real, do you? You think if you jutht get rid of Eridan that I'll fall into thomeone eltheth armth and everything will be okay! I'll be fikthed, right ath rain, right? Now that you've got ff, doeth that mean you want me with aa? Are you arranging all of that behind my back?"

"What the _fuck_ are you babbling about?" Karkat snapped.

"Sollux, what--"

" _Well it'll never be fucking okay!_ Sollux snarled. "Never! Becauthe I've been fucked over in more wayth than you can pothhibly imagine, and while all of you are talking behind my back and trying to figure out how to deal with me like, you're ignoring the one perthon who actually managed to get me _out_ of the horrible thituation I wath in!"

"Hey!" Karkat snapped, jumping to his feet. "That's not fucking fair, damnit. We were looking for you! If we'd been able to _find_ you, we'd have gotten you out of there sweeps ago!"

"That'th not the point!"

"Sollux!" Feferi cried, touching his shoulder again. "We're your fronds. Please don't talk about us like that. We're just trying to kelp you, in any way we can."

"That'th bullshit!" Sollux growled, turning towards her and grabbing her hand to push it away. "None of you even know who I am anymore. You jutht push me and pull me around, like a broken machine. You aren't lithening to what I need. You're jutht looking for the right pietheth to fikth me."

"Then what do you need?" Feferi asked softly, gazing into his eyes. "Please, just tell us."

"Other than not culling that stupid ass, Eridan," Karkat added in a low voice. "We already got that message, loud and clear."

The sudden silence in the room was deafening. Sollux stared at Feferi in confusion, his mind completely blank. Other than Eridan, what did he need?

"I...I don't know," he said helplessly. "I jutht, I guethh I need to feel utheful."

Feferi beamed, and he suddenly felt a weight shift off of his shoulders. He'd asked for something. Weird how that actually helped, even if he hadn't even gotten an answer yet.

Karkat got to his feet and crossed the room, scowling up at him. "You stupid fuckass," he said. "Did you think we were just going to make you sit around like a lump of stale sopor? Do you know how much it would help to be able to hack the imperial traffic?"

"We _need_ you, Sollux," Feferi put in, clasping her hands together.

"Yeah, well," Sollux shifted uncomfortably. "That wath why I came here in the firtht plathe. Becauthe I wanted to help."

"How stupid do you think we are?" Karkat said. "We know you didn't come here to deliver that useless sack of fish entrails to us. We were just giving you a bit of fucking _space_ to get acclimated. You've been such a fucking basket case, we didn't want to put any more pressure on you."

Sollux drew in a breath and let it out, dropping his gaze. He had been too hard on his friends, he supposed. They might not be treating Eridan the way he hoped, but that didn't mean they didn't care about _Sollux_."

"Tho you're really going to let me help?" he asked softly.

"Of course we are!" Feferi said gently.

"Once you show us you're not about to go shithive maggots at the least little thing, you'll have all the computer access your geeky little blood-pusher can desire," Karkat added.

Sollux' heart sank a little. A bit of something substantial to do might distract him from his worries, _keep_ him from feeling shithive maggots.

But he could also understand their concern. He was obviously loyal to Eridan, whom they still thought of as a traitor. And as he had already discussed with Karkat, he could even be a sleeper agent. They needed to be sure.

"Why don't you come sit down and tell us why you came in the first place?" Feferi offered, and Sollux allowed himself to be drawn over to the sofa. He sat down between the two leaders of the rebellion, his own hands falling awkwardly into his lap. Feferi snuggled up next to him, humming a soothing little melody under her breath.

For once, he was okay with her being there. Maybe he was getting used to it, or maybe he was really getting stronger, at least learning to ignore other highbloods in favour of Eridan. That was progress. Right?

Maybe not.

And the thought made him wonder what Eridan was doing right now. Was Gamzee really interested in being his kismesis, or was that all some excuse to get Sollux out of the room for some other purpose?

"I came becauthe...I'm thorry, ff," he blurted suddenly.

Feferi started in surprise. "What for?"

He drew in a breath and let it out, his heart suddenly hammering in his chest. "Both of you athked me to try to get you the ship, thomehow, without telling Eridan that that wath what you really needed, but I haven't been able to do _anything_ about it."

"For fuck's sake," Karkat growled. "Feferi, what did you say to him?"

"I just...asked him to do me a little favour," Feferi said, blushing magenta.

"She athked me not to tell Eridan what it wath you wanted," Sollux said. "Tho he would offer it on hith own. But he didn't."

"Yeah," Karkat said, sitting back and rubbing his forehead. "He sure didn't. He spent a lot of fucking time grilling me, only to tell me to fuck off at the end. Are you about to tell us why? Because I'm pretty much inclined to assume it was all a fucking big waste of my time, just to give a loyal imperialist a big steaming helping of useful intel."

"I don't know why," Sollux said, then frowned at their doubtful faces. "I don't!"

"Didn't he say _anything_?" Feferi pleaded.

"There's not much more we can do if he doesn't come around, Sollux," Karkat said, scowling. "If there's any hope, you probably want to tell us."

Agitated, Sollux jumped to his feet and began to pace. "I didn't athk, okay? He'th been brooding thinthe yethterday. I know he'th thcared, but for thome reathon he'th not changing hith mind. But I couldn't figure out how to athk without thpilling the beanth!"

"That is a problem," Feferi agreed.

Sollux stopped pacing and looked at Karkat, all but quivering with tension. "You're really going to kill him if he doethn't join you, aren't you?"

Karkat stared at him levelly. "Ask me if we have the resources to keep a sea troll around who doesn't want to be here. He's pretty much useless as a hostage or ransom - too low on the fucking totem pole - and after everything he's seen of our facility, he can _not_ be allowed to leave, anyway. Sooner or later, he'll find a way to undermine us, or to escape, and then we're truly, completely, and unremittingly fucked."

"How thoon?" Sollux asked, his blood roaring in his ears. "Really, kk, how long doeth he have?"

Karkat shrugged and looked away. "Unless he gives some indication that there's any hope of him changing his mind, Sollux...I don't see any value in keeping him around."

"But _I_ need him!" Sollux exclaimed, but he knew the plea fell on deaf ears. The two trolls looked uncomfortable, but resolute.

He knew them well enough to see the conflict within them, despite their determination. They wanted to change their minds because they abhorred needless killing, but the fact that Sollux needed Eridan wasn't a good enough reason when stacked against the security of the rebellion.

If Eridan didn't offer them something they needed, he was a dead troll.

"Sollux," Feferi said gently. "You've gotten all tangled up in his nets, and that's understandable. But even if he were gone, you'd still have us."

"Hell. Maybe it's better to separate you sooner rather than later," Karkat muttered.

"You're both fucking--" Sollux was so distressed that he felt sparks flying from his eyes, shooting between his horns. "I won't let thith happen!"

He turned and slammed out of the room, running towards Eridan's block, ignoring Karkat's shout. He didn't care that Gamzee was probably still there. And it didn't matter that Eridan still probably had days or even perigees left. In his panic, he half-expected to find Eridan culled when he got there.

The door opened before he'd even gotten there, the lock shattering under a battering of red and blue energy. The two guards yelled and threw themselves out of the way, but he scarcely saw them.

The walls were spattered with purple drops, and Eridan was nowhere in sight.


	10. Chapter 10

_What shade of purple? WHICH SHADE OF PURPLE IS THAT?_

Sollux' panicked mind couldn't figure it out, especially in the dim lighting without a frame of reference. Were those fine spattered drops Gamzee indigo, or Eridan violet, or a mixture of the two?

A moan from the next room attracted his attention and he darted towards the door into the respite block, his wind tube closing at the fear of what he might see.

For a second, he saw only overturned furniture, sopor slime slopping over the rim of the recuperacoon and drying in the cool air, a lamp lying toppled onto the floor with the bulb shattered.

Then a second moan made him look again, and he saw Eridan lying on the floor. Gamzee was nowhere in sight, which Sollux was thankful for as he rushed to his captain's side.

"Captain!"

There were bloody rents in Eridan's shirt, and a single long scratch had opened his thigh from hip to knee. There was a bite mark at the corner of Eridan's mouth, too, and his right eye looked like it was developing a shiner.

But he pushed himself up, scowling, without any obvious difficulty. The bleeding had already stopped. "That fuckin' asshole. That wwas fuckin' unconscionable, is wwhat it wwas."

"Are you okay?" Sollux asked, still sparking a little in his distress. "Did you fight him off?"

"No!" Eridan snarled.

He grabbed Sollux by the collar and dragged him close, kissing him roughly and running a hand up under his shirt. Sollux flailed, shocked by the gesture. He could taste blood in his mouth, salty sweet.

After a thorough kiss - and grope - Eridan pushed him down and straddled him. "Fuckin asshole got me worked the fuck up, then he just _left_. But I think I'vve got myself a kismesis. A real kismesis!"

Sollux was keyed up enough that he struggled under Eridan's weight, trying to squirm away instead of submitting. His heart was hammering and breathing a little fast and panicked. "Oh. Uh, that'th good," he managed breathlessly.

"Yeah, it's fuckin' _great_ ," Eridan said, bending over him once more and combing a hand through Sollux' hair, then curling fingers around one of his big horns. "But he didn't havve to just _leavve_ me like that! I'll get him back the next time."

Sollux keened, his muscles going slack under Eridan's weight. But he scrabbled weakly at Eridan's thigh, clutching at him, desperate. This wasn't right, this wasn't the _time_. He could understand that Eridan was worked up and horny, but he wasn't even waiting to see if Sollux was in the mood first.

And that was sort of pissing him off.

"Wait," he moaned. Eridan's hand slid under his waistband and his lips pressed to the corner of Sollux' mouth, then travelled up towards his ear. "Wait, wait _pleathe_!" he pleaded with more and more desperation, and a sinking heart.

When it came right down to it, Eridan thought of him as a slave. Something beneath him, and safe to use, because Sollux would just come back to him, no matter what. Hadn't he demonstrated that over and over since they got captured? While he was somewhat protective and had been kind to Sollux, how many times had Karkat, Gamzee or someone else called him on that kind of thinking, just in the last few days?

The slave sagged into the floor and squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head to open his throat submissively and swallowing back a sudden swell of tears.

"Wwhat's wwrong, Sol?" Eridan asked gently, nipping lightly at his ear and loosening his grip on his horn. "Wwhat am I wwaitin' for?"

Sollux froze. Eridan had heard him? In fact, he now realized that Eridan actually _wasn't_ pushing it further, though his hips moved a little, grinding mindlessly against his hip, and his fingers clenched at his shoulder, impatient.

He turned his head and opened his eyes, looking up at Eridan in confusion. "You... thtopped."

Eridan looked affronted. "You wwanted me to stop, didn't you? Is Kar gettin' to you, after all, is that it? Wwhat do you take me for after all a this time?"

Sollux drew in a breath and let it out, shuddering, then reached up. Eridan blinked in surprise as Sollux dragged him into a tight hug.

There was a short silence. Gradually the urgency in Eridan's bulge seemed to diminish as Sollux clutched at him, and he wound his arms around Sollux in a more comforting, rather than amorous, manner. "Wwhat is it?" he asked more gently.

Sollux swallowed a stupid impulse to apologize, then chewed his lip for a moment. "KK and ff really are going to kill you, if you don't help," he said softly. "They _really_ will. I've tried to convinthe them not to, but it'th hopelethh. Ithn't there anything you can do?"

Eridan stiffed at the word 'kill' and his muscles didn't loosen up one bit as Sollux finished his question. "Don't you think I'vve been tryin' to think a something all fuckin' day?" he asked curtly. He shifted onto his side, dragging Sollux against him, so he was no longer crushing him with his weight. "They'vve got some troops, sure. Some equipment. A lot a right on their side, or so their followwers feel, wwhich is important. But that's all they'vve got. Wwhat the fuck am I supposed to offer that's gonna turn things around? I'm not some kind a fuckin' miracle-wworker, Sol."

The yellow-blood opened his mouth to say 'a ship', then closed it. Feferi had basically ordered him not to say it. But if he didn't, Eridan would die.

Then again, Feferi had ordered him not to do a lot of things he could do to save Eridan's life.

If he followed her orders, Eridan would die. She was the ranking highblood, and he _had_ to listen to her commands. Every perigee of training had taught him that, imprinted those commands deep into his thinkpan.

He shifted slightly, looked up at Eridan. Eridan hadn't done anything to deserve dying. Sure, he was an idiot sometimes, an arrogant self-centred idiot.

But he was Sollux's arrogant, self-centred idiot.

Sollux remembered Gamzee looking at him with suspicion and telling him that sooner or later, he'd decide he didn't need to listen to orders, and instead would listen to his heart. It was pretty clear what his heart was telling him, right now.

"I'm not going to let you die," Sollux whispered. "I've dethided."

Eridan blinked. "Wwhat?"

Sollux got to his feet and turned away from Eridan. On the other side of this wall was about three feet of solid rock, but beyond that was a sheer cliff down to the sea a hundred feet below that. The entire complex was built into the cliff, hidden in caves and under the water.

"Thtand back."

It took a few minutes to drill through the rock to the cool dusk air outside, but the guards didn't come in until it was too late. It took only a second to grab the cowering Eridan and fly out the tunnel he'd made.

It would take only an hour to fly himself and his captain to the spaceport.

There was no way the rebels could catch them.

======>

CURRENT tricksterClown [CTC] RIGHT NOW opened memo on board ALTERNIAN CIVILIZED LIBERATORS UNITED [ACLU] OFFICIAL DISCUSSION.

CTC: WoOoOoAh bEsT FrIeNdS.  
CTC: YoU WoUlD NoT BeLiEvE WhAt tHiS MoThErFuCkEr hAs aLl uP AnD BeEn dOiNg fOr tHe rIgHtEoUs cAuSe oF SiCkNaStY RiGhTeOuSnEsS AnD EqUaLiTy sHiT.  
CURRENT contractingGlory [CCG] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCG: WE ALL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'VE BEEN DOING.  
CCG: THOUGH WE WISH WE DIDN'T.  
CCG: DID IT WORK?  
CCG: AND STOP TYPING LIKE THAT, IT MAKES MY TEETH ACHE TO READ YOUR INTENSE OVERWHELMING IDIOCY.  
CTC: SORRY MY MOTHERFUCKING MOIRAIL BUDDY.  
CTC: i was so happy, i just felt all up and whimsical for a second there.  
CTC: BUT I FORGOT THIS WAS MOTHERFUCKING SERIOUS TIMES.  
CTC: honk :o)  
CURRENT attractingTurntables [CAT] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CAT: uH, jUDGING BY THE, rECENT LOUD RUMBLING SOUNDS,  
CAT: i THINK, pOSSIBLY, tHAT eRIDAN AND sOLLUX HAVE, iN FACT, eSCAPED,  
CURRENT arachnidsGrip [CAG] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CAG: Aaaaaaaand I just checked on their 8lock and there's a 8IG FUCKING HOLE IN THE WALL ::::/  
CCG: EXCELLENT.  
CURRENT crabCatcher [CCC] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCC: O)(o)(o)( they took the bait!  
CTC: so my most excellent persuasive skills  
CTC: WERE MORE THAN A MATCH FOR THAT MOTHERFUCKER'S STUBBORNNESS SKILLS.  
CTC: honkHONKhonkHONK!  
CCC: I reely reely )(ope you know what you're doing, Crabcatc)(!  
CCG: I SURE AS FUCK HOPE SO, TOO.  
CAG: We're all totally doomed if you don't XXXXD  
CCG: DON'T REMIND ME.  
CCG: FUCK.  
CCG: FUCK.  
CCG: THIS RELIES ON SOLLUX AND ERIDAN NOT BEING TOTAL IDIOTS.  
CCG: WHAT WAS I THINKING?  
CAT: uM, i THINK, wE MIGHT BE DOOMED,

CCG closed memo.

======>

Neither of them said much until the passenger transport security crew had finished checking Eridan's paperwork and the ship had launched. Sollux sat at Eridan's feet, face buried against his knee and fighting the urge to scream, cry, or start throwing things.

He had just thrown away everything he cared about - betrayed his friends, betrayed his own blood, bought into the fucking system that had tortured him so long and _willingly_ returned to a life where he was doomed, at best, to be a servant. And that, only because Eridan cared for him enough to break the rules for him.

And he'd done it all for sea dweller who hadn't been willing to lift a finger to help those same friends, out of pride, or stupidity, or some other reason Sollux couldn't fathom.

Eridan was probably congratulating himself right now, for having successfully won Sollux' loyalty to the point where he'd do something this completely shithive maggots.

"Wwhy'd you do that, Sol?"

The soft, uncertain question broke into Sollux' angry, miserable thoughts. He lifted his head and looked up into a worried frown. Eridan's fins were flattened against his face in a nervous manner and his eyebrows were pinched together.

"Becauthe I didn't want you to die!" Sollux said, exasperated. "I thought that wath pretty fucking obviouth." Despite his irritation, he kept his voice quiet. Though they were in a private cabin, the walls on passenger liners were pretty thin.

"Wwell I knoww that much," Eridan said, rolling his eyes. "But I wwas wworking on it, okay? It wwasn't as though Gam wwere going to kill me, and I wwas wworkin' my charms into creatin' a situation wwhere he wwouldn't wwant to givve me up so easily."

"It'th not Gamthee I wath worried about," Sollux returning, scowling. "It wath Karkat and Feferi. I'm sure they weren't going to change your mind unlethh you came up with thome way to help the rebellion."

His cheeks were hot, and a part of him was screaming that he shouldn't be lecturing his captain like a grub caught with four legs in the cookie jar. But he ignored it.

Anyway, the worst that would happen is that Eridan would finally get angry and punish him, and then he'd know how far he could push him. Now that he'd truly doomed himself to a life of servitude, it would be useful to know where that line was.

"Yeah, I get it, Sol," Eridan said uncomfortably, his fins drooping a little. "But you didn't really answwer my first question. I still don't get howw you managed to do this, wwhat with Fef's order to the contrary."

Sollux averted his gaze, his hands curling into fists. Yeah, he'd disobeyed the one order Feferi had given him, and he didn't regret it. At least, he didn't regret it for _that_ reason. He wasn't sure if he regretted it for other reasons, yet.

Well hell. If he'd already broken that command, he might as well do it again. Rebelling seemed to get easier with practice.

"Why didn't you offer to give them your ship?" he asked, his voice low and cold.

"Wwhat?" Eridan blinked at him, obviously startled. "Wwhy are you askin' me that, noww?"

"Come on," Sollux growled, glaring up at his captain. "KK and ff needed a ship. You _knew_ that - hell you thaid it yourthelf. You thaid the one thing they definitely needed wath a way off of Alternia, and you have one! Ith your loyalty to the Empire tho thtrong that you'd really die to keep the rebellion planetthtuck, or did you count on me betraying my friendth for you?"

"My ship?" Eridan shook his head. "Look, I wwon't say I didn't think of it. But wwhat's the point in givving it to them?"

Sollux stiffened. "Are you thaying that even with a ship that could hold the thouthand troopth they've got, they thtill can't win?"

"Maybe they could, maybe not," Eridan said. "But they sure wwon't be able to fly it, evven if I gavve it to them, so wwhat's the purpose of takin' that risk?"

"Huh?" Sollux stared up at him.

And then it dawned on him.

"Becauthe they don't have a helmthman," he said softly.

"Right," Eridan said, worrying at his lower lip with his teeth. "You knoww, I really thought about it hard. There's no wway that they'd condemn one a their owwn to flyin' a ship. And anywway I doubt they'vve got anyone properly trained. You can't just stick any old psychic in the biowwires and expect them not to crash into the nearest sun."

Eridan couldn't be this idiotic.

"What about _me_?" Sollux hissed. "I could do it. I wath trained."

"No wway," Eridan said with finality. "You're not doin' it."

"But I could!"

"But I'm not gonna make you do it. I already told you that, Sol!" Eridan's fins were sticking almost straight out and quivering. "I said I wwasn't and I'm not going to. Wwhat do you take me for?"

"A fucking idiot," Sollux said and turned away, folding his arms against his chest.

There was a long, pregnant silence.

Sollux' heart was hammering in his chest. Had he really just tried to badger Eridan into letting him fly a ship? He was terrified of the prospect, but he knew he was willing to do it. At least, he was willing to do it for Karkat.

Eridan's hand slipped into his hair. For a moment, Sollux flinched away, but slowly he relaxed as Eridan merely caressed him with a quiet thoughtfulness.

"You're really wwillin' to throww awway evverythin' for them," he murmured. "You'd fly that ship, if it meant they had a fightin' chance."

Sollux swallowed. "Yeah," he said in a voice that was a little too breathless to be firm. "I would."

"I really think you'd die for them. Fef said to me, I needed to consider wwhat I wwould die for," Eridan said slowly, after another long pause.

Sollux waited.

"Well?" he asked finally.

"I'm still thinkin'," Eridan said defensively.

Sollux sighed, but turned around and shifted up, sliding into Eridan's lap. They wrapped arms around one another and sat for a while.

"If I put you in that rig," Eridan said softly. "You might not be the same wwhen you come out."

"Maybe," Sollux said. "But I think you'll _let_ me out." He hesitated. "You will let me out, right?"

"A course I wwill," Eridan replied, scowling. Then his expression softened. "You're a lot more to me than a helmsman, after all."

"Yeah," Sollux said wryly. "You couldn't pail me if I'm in that rig."

Eridan grinned. "Exactly."

Somewhere, Sollux found a laugh. They kissed, laughing, though there was an edge to it. It was hard to laugh, when they'd both just agreed to throw away everything they'd clung to and fought for.

When they landed back on Eridan's island, they found an impatient and rather confused tealblood in military uniform standing at their front door.

"Highblood! Your drones said you were on some kind of vacation."

"I wwas," Eridan said, scowling. "As is probably obvvious by the fact that I wwasn't here for the last wweek." He looked pointedly at the tealblood's sleeve as Sollux opened the front door and slouched into the hive, eyes properly downcast. "Wwhat do you wwant, lieutenant?"

"Uh, your orders came down, sir. You're shipping out this evening."

Sollux glanced back at Eridan. The captain drew himself up and took in a deep breath, fists clenching in a manner that Sollux recognized as nervous, but which he probably thought made him look determined and impressive.

"Swwell."

======>

caligulasAquarium [CA] started trolling contractingGlory [CG]

CA: better get ready  
CA: wwere on our wway

caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased trolling contractingGlory [CG]

CG: WAIT, WHAT?

======>

The hardest part about the whole thing had been watching the biowires slide into Sollux' skin, and the way he cried out and writhed as his mind was connected into the ship for the first time. After that, Sollux had quieted considerably. Now he hung quiescently in the mass of purple wires, eyes flashing red and blue and a faint smile on his lips.

His first officer had objected vociferously when Eridan ordered the reprogramming of the ship's computers to remove any and all subroutines that would discipline the helmsman or in any other way force obedience.

Eridan had culled him on the spot. No one else objected.

The officer's purple blood was still draining into the grate on the floor when Eridan ordered the ship turned towards Alternia. No one but Sollux was there to hear the command. Nor did anyone but Sollux hear his next order, which sent sleeping gas through the air vents to every part of the ship other than the command centre.

The truth was, during interstellar flight, the crew was pretty much superfluous, and the helmsman and captain could perform every necessary function without help.

When the new crew boarded, they dragged the unconscious trolls - slaves, engineers, and soldiers alike - to their quarters, and the helmsman locked all the doors. Someone would explain the situation to them later, and Eridan estimated that a third or so would join up immediately, while the rest would need to either be culled, or persuaded over time.

Eridan was sitting confidently in his captain's chair when Karkat and Feferi entered the command centre, both of them looking like they could scarcely believe their eyes.

"Sollux!" Feferi exclaimed, running to the yellow-blood suspended in the centre of the room.

Eridan didn't move, locking gazes with Karkat, whose lips peeled back in a snarl.

"You finned asshole," Karkat snarled. "I'm not saying I'm not grateful to you for getting us off Alternia, but did you have to do it this way?"

" _Stop being wrigglers, both of you._ " Everyone looked around as the voice issued from every speaker in the room. It sounded vaguely like Sollux, minus the lisp. Eridan rather missed it.

The Captain smiled thinly. "My co-captain insisted on bein' the one to do this, for the good a this wworthy cause and all a that bee ess. Besides, it's rich that you're tryin' to object, considerin' this wwas your plan from the start. Any other objections, or wwould you like to get underwway?"

"Co-captain?" Feferi echoed, bemused. She stroked Sollux' cheek with a gentle hand, and his lips quirked up the tiniest amount. Eridan wasn't sure how aware Sollux was of his surroundings.

" _Don't worry about me. We can talk later, when I'm less distracted,_ " Sollux said. " _This is pretty fucking cool, you guys. I can see forever._ "

Karkat rubbed his face, then slumped into the first officer's chair. "You _would_ be enjoying this, you enormous mutated idiot."

" _Same to you, asswipe._ "

"Chart a course for the Condesce' ship," Eridan said. "Maximum speed you can muster safely, okay Sol?"

" _Yes, Captain._ "

As the thrum of the engines increased to a whine, Eridan settled back into his chair. Feferi offered him an uncertain smile and he grinned back, his heart rising.

Maybe there was something he was willing to die for, after all. Hope, maybe, or love. He couldn't quite put it into words, but it was somewhere in this room, right here.

And he was pretty fucking happy about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for sticking with me through this epic! I had a tonne of fun writing it, and I hope you all like the ending. (Don't worry, in my headcanon, they beat the Condesce and usher in a golden age of peace and equality and all that hoofbeastshit, but that would take years and I don't have time to write it all out).
> 
> For those following my other fics, I can now get back to them! The only hiccup is that NaNoWriMo is starting in a week. But I will try to get a couple of chapters out before I take my hiatus from fandom writing and buckle down to my original writing again. Sorry to everyone who's waiting!


End file.
